State launches awareness campaign on addiction, mental illness

The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) launched its "Think Outside the Stigma" campaign yesterday, designed to boost public awareness of addiction and mental illness. (Source: "Ohio campaign aimed at reducing stigma for addiction, mental illness," Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 30, 2007.)  According to Angela Cornelius, director of ODADAS, "The bottom line is treatment works, people recover and Ohioans are worth the investment."

The key messages of the statewide campaign are that alcohol and drug addictions and mental illnesses are "treatable; can affect anyone; and are brain diseases. In addition, individuals with brain diseases should not be discriminated against." (Source: Gongwer Report, Oct. 30, 2007.) According to ODADAS, "every dollar spent on addiction prevention in Ohio saves about $7 by reducing lost job productivity, crime, child abuse and neglect and homelessness." In addition, the agency says that more than 650,000 Ohioans went without necessary treatment for alcohol abuse in 2005 while 228,000 Ohioans didn’t receive drug treatment.