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New Coalition To Fight Prescription Drug Abuse
By: WOUB Staff Writer
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Prescription drug abuse is a serious issue in Southeast Ohio, but the new Athens OPIOID Coalition is aimed at fighting this problem.
Executive director of Health Recovery Services Joe Gay says this group wants to end the addiction in this area.
"There's been a tremendous increase in the use of opiate drugs in Ohio. About four times as many people are dying from overdoses and three times as many people are in treatment from 10 years ago. And so we're trying to bring different members of the community together to work on this," says Gay.
Gay says it's the efforts of communities that make the biggest difference.
"The public really needs to be the people who educate one another, their kids, their neighbors. They need to be the ones who keep the leaders of the community on focus with this," says Gay.
Gay appeared on WOUB Television's Newswatch program last night.