October 2022
October is
Medicine Abuse Prevention Month
This month, we are focusing on the issues around the misuse of prescription and over the counter drugs. Take time this month to talk to your family about the dangers of taking medicine that have been not prescribed for you or in a way that it was not intended to be used. With the alarming rise of the use of fentanyl in counterfeit pills, this discussion could be lifesaving.
For more information on prescription abuse, click here
For more information on the rise of fentanyl, click here
DEA TakeBack Day
10/29 10-2
DEA TakeBack Day is Saturday, 10/29. Started in 2005, this national effort focuses on getting unused/unwanted/expired prescription drugs and over the counter medications out of our houses SAFELY. If they are out of our house, they can’t be misused in ANY way. In 17 years, nearly 16 million lbs. of unwanted/unused/expired prescription drugs and over the counter medications have been collected.
In Ottawa County, there is a DEA collection site both a Holland Hospital and Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital. If those locations don't work for you click here to find a collection site near you.
Youth Mental Health Skills Videos
The last few years have been very hard on all of us, especially our youth. Stress, loss, change: these have all tested our abilities to cope, to bounce back, to grow and thrive. These are not easy things to talk about.
The Southeast Quadrant group (Hudsonville/Jenison) of OSAP has produced a series of youth mental health skills videos that use peers to teach positive coping skills and strategies. There are 25 in all, and you can see all of them here
Optomistic October
This month, our friends at Action for Happiness want us to focus on those managable small steps we can do daily to built hope and optimism.
Ottawa Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition
Contact Leigh Moerdyke at lmoerdyke@arborcircle.org


Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OSAPCoalition
Talk Early. Talk Often. Learn How. www.talksooner.org