Ohio pharmacists use education to fight drug abuse COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio pharmacists and the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy are partnering to help educate residents about the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
The Ohio Pharmacists Association, the college and Cardinal Health Inc. plan to soon launch pilot programs using local pharmacists to teach residents in Columbus, Mount Vernon and Chillicothe about the dangers of abusing drugs they may find at home.
The partnership was announced Friday at the association's annual meeting, focusing on targeting teen drug abuse.
It follows a recent report by the Ohio Department of Health that showed drug overdoses topped traffic crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio in 2006 and 2007. Though heroin and other illegal drugs play a big role in those figures, the department attributed the increase to the use of prescription pain medicines.
"The drug problem is moving from the streets to the medicine cabinet," said Kenneth Hale, the pharmacy college's assistant dean for professional and external affairs.
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