Partnership encourages pharmacists to educate consumers about abuse

With drug overdoses now accounting for more accidental deaths in Ohio than auto accidents, the Ohio Pharmacists Association, the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and Cardinal Health have announced a partnership that aims to enable pharmacists to educate their customers about the misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs (Source: “Pharmacists join in abuse fight,” Columbus Dispatch, April 18, 2009).

The partnership came about as an offshoot of the OSU College of Pharmacy’s Generation Rx Initiative, a program the college started two years ago to have students hold informational sessions on campus and in local schools. The partnership plans to focus its educational outreach on abuse among teens. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 7 percent of Ohio children ages 12 to 17 misused pain relievers in 2005 and 2006, the two most recent years for which data is available.

"The drug problem is moving from the streets to the medicine cabinet," said Kenneth M. Hale, assistant dean for professional and external affairs at the OSU College of Pharmacy.