The Banks County Sheriff’s Office is honoring National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week by posting educational information on the dangers of substance abuse on its Facebook page.
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week is March 18th through March 22nd.
Where it started
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is in its 50th year of helping educate the public on drug awareness. It was established by an act of Congress in May of 1974. Today, NIDA contributes globally in funding and researching drug abuse and addiction. It was former President Richard Nixon who declared that “drug abuse was public enemy number one. Since that time, society has looked at addiction differently.
Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA, writes in her blog post, “The United States is experiencing the worst drug overdose crisis in its history, with 110,000 people now dying annually. Unfortunately, even though we have effective tools to prevent and treat substance use disorders, they are not deployed widely enough. And even if medical science has changed its views on addiction, policies, and social structures have been slower in following the science toward a public health-based approach.”
NIDA established Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week as a way to educate the public and help implement change.
Daily reminders
The Banks County Sheriff’s Office posts a reminder each day of ways to effectively prevent drug and alcohol abuse. Today’s reminder reads, “The only safe medications are those prescribed by a trusted doctor and provided by a licensed pharmacist. Prescription medications should not be shared or left unsecured.”
Each day on Facebook, the Banks County Sheriff’s Office will post additional reminders. Please visit for more advice.
The Banks County Sheriff’s Office offers a prescription drug disposal drop box located at 160 Windmill Farm Road in Homer. The drop box allows people to dispose of old prescriptions safely.
Additional information
For more information on how to learn about the dangers of substance abuse, visit the National Institute on Drug Abuse website; Georgia Prescription Drug Abuse website; United States Drug Enforcement Administration Fact Sheets website.
