The Northern Sierra Opioid Safety Coalition’s Prevention Action Team is partnering with the California Department of Public Health to launch a new media campaign, alerting the public of some of the risks associated with opioids.

The coalition is committed to preventing opioid addiction and overdose by educating the public to make a smarter patient. To support local education and community based interventions, the California Department of Public Health has launch a campaign, called “Your Pain is Real. So Are the Risks,” aiming to educate the public while decreasing stigma by increasing awareness about the dangers of opioid prescription medication. Patients are encouraged to talk to their doctors about safer pain management options. 

The misuse of prescription pain medications that contain opioids (such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine and codeine) is a rapidly changing, multi-faceted public health crisis that can lead to addiction, overdose, and death.

In 2017, 11 Plumas County residents visited the emergency department due to opioid overdoses, one resulting in death. Since the formation of the Northern Sierra Opioid Safety Coalition, Plumas County has seen a significant decrease in the amount of opioids being prescribed and the rate of deaths due to overdoses as a result. More opioid overdose data is available on the California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard.