The Georgia Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Collaborative (GPDAPC)
The Council's 55-year journey of collaboration, a testament to our unwavering commitment, began in 1969 as a charitable organization under the name Metropolitan Atlanta Council on Alcohol and Drugs (MACAD). Our organization was not merely established as a central agency, but as a collaborator and community builder, uniting fragmented efforts into a comprehensive approach to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse. We deeply value the involvement of every stakeholder, as it is their collective efforts that have brought about significant change and saved countless lives.
The Georgia Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Initiative (GPDAPI) is yet another example of The Council’s collaborative journey and has been at the forefront of implementing the seven strategies for community change over the past 13 years across the state in partnership with the Department of Behavior Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). Our initiative has been a beacon of hope in the battle against prescription drug misuse, abuse, addiction, and overdose, with a primary focus on the opioid crisis. The Georgia Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Initiative Collaborative (The Collaborative) is a tangible outcome of our efforts within the GPDAPI. In addition to the GPDAPI, we have fostered collaboration through the Generation Rx (GEN Rx) I and II Initiatives, the State Opioid Response Community Showcase Events (2022, 2023, 2024), the Peer Assisted School Transition Project (PAST), and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council's Naloxone in Schools Training and Distribution Initiative.
The Collaborative has focused on mitigating the opioid crisis and building community and county sustainability across the state with over 300 partners and stakeholders. The GPDAPI and the Collaborative bring an enormous number of resources and relationships on the community, county, regional, statewide, and national levels to respond to the opioid crisis and the public health emergency that has caused widespread harm to thousands of Georgians. Resources such as established relationships with drug disposal suppliers such as Salsbury Industries, MedReturn, NarcX, Rx Destroyer, Dispose Rx, and Deterra, and in the safe storage space, established relationships with Innovative Product Concepts, Safe Rx, Vaultz, and LOCKMED. Relationships that cover the entire state, whether with the Georgia Family Connection 159 Community Collaboratives, the Georgia Sherrif's Association, the Department of Public Health's Opioid and Overdose Surveillance & Planning team, or physicians such as Dr. Susan K. Blank, MD, DFAPA, DFASAM, MRO and Dr. Pickens Patterson III, M.D. The GPDAPI staff have deployed an all-hands-on deck from primary prevention to harm reduction through collaboration, where everyone is valued and needed. The GPDAPI staff focus results on four priority areas: Prevention Awareness and Education, Secure Disposal, Safe Storage, and Advocacy. The GPDAPI focuses on a straightforward formula: relationships plus resources equal results!
Significant challenges require great teamwork: solution-focused, agreement-oriented, and other-centered. The Collaborative goes beyond cooperation because collaboration is more than that. Cooperation is working together agreeably. Collaboration is working together aggressively. The Collaborative partners and stakeholders do more than work with one another. Each partner and stakeholder bring something to the table that adds "value" to the relationship and synergy of the team. The attitude of collaboration within The Collaborative is the guiding force to build drug disposal, safe storage, and awareness education to prevent and reduce prescription and opioid drug abuse among all age groups, with emphasis on youth and other at-risk populations such as pregnant mothers, veterans, seniors, and those in long-term recovery. To join The Collaborative, please fill out the form below.
Join the Georgia Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Collaborative (GPDAPC)