The Brooke-Oak Glen High School gridiron matchup will be featured as an Opioid Abuse Prevention Game of the Week, selected by attorney general Patrick Morrisey.
The Bruins are coming off a 49-14 loss to Bridgeport last Friday and are hoping to break a three-game losing streak with a win over Oak Glen, now 5-1, including a 44-8 loss to Robert C. Byrd High School last week.
Throughout each week, the initiative engages with student athletes, coaches, school officials and communities across West Virginia.
Representatives from the attorney general’s office inform the coaches about the dangers of opioid use and provide educational material for display and distribution in the schools to foster more discussion of the issue.
The week culminates with the attorney general’s office staffing an information booth at each of the select sporting events to distribute opioid abuse awareness materials.
“Education and prevention are crucial in blocking opioid abuse and its devastating consequences,” Morrisey said. “By providing education and informational materials to students and their families, our goal is to end opioid abuse once and for all.
“Without education, families may not know how easily addiction can begin with treatment for a routine injury. There are real risks to using opioids in pain management and our goal is preventing senseless deaths by making everyone aware of how dangerous these medications can be.”
Now in its seventh year, the initiative is part of a broader partnership to tackle opioid use in high school athletics. It involves the attorney general’s office and the West Virginia Board of Medicine.
Opioid painkillers may temporarily relieve pain, but they do nothing to address the underlying injury and can have serious side effects. The medication also carries striking similarities to heroin.
The attorney general and his partners are concerned about the unnecessary usage of opioid painkillers to treat athletic injuries, possibly leading to increased dependence, abuse and addiction.
Parents and caregivers are urged to discuss alternative treatment plans with their child’s health care provider. Such alternatives include physical, occupational and massage therapy, along with chiropractic medicine, acupuncture and over-the-counter medications.
If an opioid proves necessary, parents and caregivers are encouraged to only use the medication as directed, closely monitor their child’s use, safely dispose of any unused pills and talk about the inherent dangers of misuse, abuse and sharing.