National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit - Strength Through Community

Atlanta was host city to the 6th annual National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit this week. Realizing the importance of collaboration, the C.E. Mendez Foundation was proud to exhibit along with education providers, treatment and recovery centers and other organizations in the field. What we found was a strengthened, hopeful community of over 2,000 attendees ready to reinforce solutions to the current opioid and prescription drug epidemic.

The National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit is the largest national collaboration of federal, state and local professionals that seek to address prescription drug and opioid abuse and misuse. This year, several of the nation’s top researchers, medical professionals, and law enforcement agents participated in the Summit. Officials from several communities, including education, medicine and government met, connected, and gained a clearer understanding of what needs to be done to help those suffering from addiction.

Through a focused three-day agenda of vision sessions, breakout discussions, speeches and panels, attendees of this year’s summit were exposed to expert opinions and new ideas from conference speakers including former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, United States Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., and Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas E. Price, M.D.

Nancy Hale, President/CEO of Operation UNITE, educational adviser to the 2017 Summit and a session moderator, believes that a multi-faceted approach is needed. "All…approaches -- from prevention and education to law enforcement to treatment - must be utilized together so we can protect and save our families and communities.” And the summit is already leading to a greater response, as Price announced on Wednesday that the federal government will provide states with $485 million in grant money for prevention and treatment programs aimed at confronting the opioid epidemic.

With the increase in opioid use, the Mendez Foundation maintains a serious commitment to communities throughout our country to work with schools, after-school programs, law enforcement, and nonprofit organizations that seek solutions to this pressing issue. Our Too Good for Drugs substance abuse prevention programs are designed to help all children, beginning in Kindergarten, with positive youth development and drug-free living.

We are proud to have been part of such a worthy cause for the second year in a row that has garnered a movement of this size and strength. We thank the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit for including the Mendez Foundation and we look forward to participating in 2018.