A national education effort to prevent the spread of opioid addiction.
On Friday, October 12th at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, over 4,500 Utah youth gathered for the Solutions Summit. The Summit, presented by United States Senator Mike Lee and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes,
featured the DEA 360 and Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation’s Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness.
The Youth Summit, hosted by Emmy Award winning broadcaster Alema Harrington, and singer, song writer and recording artist, Lexi Walker, presented a 3 hour program of education and entertainment. The cornerstone of the summit was the movie, “If Only,” and also featured educational and compelling presentations from Jim Wahlberg,
Amber Baum, and ulitmate fighting champion, Court McGee among many other local advocates and celebrities.
In 2018, over 67,000 people died from drug misuse.
185 drug overdose deaths occur per day.
68% of those deaths are pharmaceutical opioids or heroin related.
Prescription drug misuse has become a large public health problem, because misuse can lead to addiction, and even overdose deaths. For teens, it is a growing problem.
Heroin-related deaths increased by more than 5x from 2010-2016.
The misuse of pain medications is causing an increase in heroin use.
Nationwide, among new heroin users, 80 percent report having abused prescription opioids before using heroin.
After marijuana and alcohol, prescription drugs are the most commonly misused substances by Americans age 14 and older.
--National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
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