The San Diego District Attorney's office on Thursday launched a new digital outreach campaign to tackle what they say is an opioid epidemic in our community.
The San Diego Opioid Project will target particularly vulnerable demographics, based on research, and be featured on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. The six-month digital outreach campaign is meant to dispel myths about opioid use and refer people to a website where they can find resources for treatment.
"The campaign's goal is not just to educate and to build awareness, but to actually change behavior," District Attorney Summer Stephan said.
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The District Attorney's Office says in 2018, 210 people died from accidental overdoses caused by prescription opioids in San Diego County.
Sherrie Rubin's son was in a coma when he was 23 after he took a dose of OxyContin that doctors say was as strong as black tar heroin.
"He could control everything else in his life, but he couldn't control this," she said. "Had this campaign been accessible and the knowledge out there, I know that we could save lives and I look forward to saving all the lives that we will never know that we saved and the deaths that will decrease."
