Prescription Misuse Prevention Resources

The National Take-Back Initiative is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Diversion Control. National Take-Back Days aim to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of prescription drug medication.

The Community Prevention Initiative is now offering a customizable publication (two versions available) that empowers parents and communities to prevent teen prescription drug abuse.

Rx for Understanding: Be Smart About Prescription Drugs includes 10 cross-curricular lessons for middle school students and was developed by the National Educational Association (NEA) through the NEA Healthy Futures non-profit organization.

The Community Prevention Initiative has developed a myriad of resources and publications that discuss prescription drug use, its impacts on various populations, and strategies for SUD prevention professionals.

The National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE) located in Rockville, MD is a non-profit multi-stakeholder coalition working to stimulate and improve communication of information on the appropriate use of medicines to consumers and health care professionals.

The Medicine Abuse Project is a five-year action campaign that aims to prevent half a million teens from abusing medicine by the year 2017. The website includes information about prevention of prescription drug abuse, painkiller addiction, and over-the-counter (OTC) medicine abuse.

NIDA for Teens offers students a range of educational experiences as they learn facts about drugs and neuroscience, and to support educators and parents as they facilitate student learning.

Community of Care of North Carolina partners with the Chronic Pain Initiative to help deliver better pain relief while reducing overdose risk at the same time.

This toolkit offers strategies to health care providers, communities, and local governments for developing practices and policies to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Access reports for community members, prescribers, patients and families, and those recovering from opioid overdose.

The Carolinas Poison Center provides a free teen pack, which addresses the problem of prescription medicine misuse and abuse. The teen pack is designed for teens themselves and parents of teens.

The National Association of School Nurses website shares a video, discussion guide, and toolkit for school nurses, principals, and teachers.

The Partnership shares tips for parents to talk with their kids about drug use.

Up and Away and Out of Sight is an educational program to remind families about the importance of safe medicine storage. It is an initiative of PROTECT, in partnership with the CDC, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association Educational Foundation, and other organizations.

The University of California at San Francisco School of Pharmacy shares recommendations on the disposal of prescription medications.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Foundation shares information on how to safely dispose of unused prescription drugs.

The Environmental Prevention Agency shares recommendations for safe community and home medicine and needle disposal.

This document from the Food and Drug Administration shares information and strategies on guidelines for drug disposal.

Click to learn more about disposal options available to you for disposal of sharps waste provided by Cal Recycle.

A video created by Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the informative hour-long video discusses how the push to close pill mills has been tied to the increase in heroin use.

This documentary discusses the prevalent use of substances by affluent teens in Orange County, California.

A video created by Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the informative hour-long video discusses how the push to close pill mills has been tied to the increase in heroin use.

Created exclusively for teens, these interactive videos engage young people to make decisions based on presented scenarios. This page links to a lesson plan for teachers.

This documentary follows teen prescription drug use in Orange County, California.

Information for parents on keeping young children safe from accessing prescription drugs in their home.

This webinar will share information about Prescription Drug (Rx) misuse and abuse, with a focus on what local communities can do to measure and understand the problem. In addition, the webinar will outline a comprehensive approach to the problem that can be customized to fit the needs of individual communities. The presentation will draw on national calls for action, as well as local community experience.

In counties throughout the state there has been a sharp rise in prescription drug abuse, but communities struggle to identify best practices that can address this growing problem. This webinar highlights the approaches used to address prescription drug use in Contra Costa, Fresno, and Orange Counties including establishing a relationship with the Sheriff’s Coroner’s Division to gather data, establishing systems change, and engaging youth in community awareness. This webinar also provides an overview of how data was used to drive coalition building and community awareness efforts.

Like most California communities, Marin County is facing an epidemic of prescription drug misuse and abuse. In order to address this growing public health crisis, Marin County launched RxSafe Marin; a comprehensive three year initiative addressing the contributing factors of prescription drug abuse throughout the community. This webinar will provide an overview of the formation, structure, successes, and challenges that RxSafe Marin experienced in its first year. The webinar is meant to explore ideas for local action and identify potential allies and resources in our shared efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse and abuse. It will review the following: The recruitment and retention process of diverse partners that include law enforcement, schools, prescribers, pharmacists, policymakers; the data used to determine priorities; and the use of media.