PO - Fewer People Start to Misuse Drugs
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Since this is an Outcome objective, the content on this page should not be about the strategies to accomplish this change, but about the desired outcome change. The details on the strategies to accomplish this belong in under the appropriate Strategy objectives.
Contents
Examples of a Description for this Objective
One of the most important ways to end the opioid and addiction crisis is to minimize the people who even take that first step down what could be a path towards dependence and addiction. As many of the strategies are implemented, the number of people who start to misuse drugs should drop dramatically. If people never start down the path of misusing drugs, they are not going to develop an SUD or be part of the suffering and devastation that addiction can bring to individuals, families and communities.
Examples of a From-To Gap
Current State |
Desired State | |
| Many people who are prescribed opioids keep the extra pills and use them for non-prescribed purposes because they don't see the risks of that. | People dispose of their unused medications so they are not around for potential misuse, and people recognize that taking pills for any reason other than the prescribed purpose could lead to serious problems and addiction. | |
| People get prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them and use them to treat pain. This initial step of non-prescribed use can lead to growing misuse and dependence (or worse). | People know that it is unwise to take any prescription drug that was not prescribed to them (especially opioids) and when people who might normally give away the pills are asked for them, those people have either disposed of them or know the potential risks of giving addictive opioids to people who were not prescribed them. | |
| Kids and teens try pain pills for the first time to get a high becuase they don't see significant risks of taking a medication that was prescribed to them, one of their peers or perhaps a family member. | Kids and teens have far fewer opportunities to access presecription medications for misuse, and they have a clear understanding of how dangerous it can be to begin to take an opioid pill. | |
| People try using pain pills not prescribed to them in order to self-medicate based on physical or mental health issues. The pills seem like the only practical option, and the awareness of the risks is low. | People are aware of better and safer ways to address pain or mental health issues than self-medication using drugs that were not prescribed to them by a doctor, so they don't start to misuse drugs. |
