STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippians now have an online tool for opioid misuse prevention resources and strategies. 

Mississippi State University’s Extension Service and Social Science Research Center developed the webpage in collaboration with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Fahrenheit Creative Group. This new page is a component of an MSU Extension drug prevention initiative called PReventing Opioid Misuse In the SouthEast, or the PROMISE Initiative.

MSU Extension launched the program after receiving funding in 2017 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture to address mental health and prescription opioid misuse. The launch of the PROMISE Initiative coincided with the Department of Mental Health’s launch of the Stand Up, Mississippi Campaign, which was also focused on opioid misuse. 

“Opioid misuse is a problem that not only affects our nation but our great state of Mississippi,” said PROMISE Initiative Coordinator Mary Nelson Robertson. “Nearly 200 Mississippians died of an opioid-related overdose in 2019. I hope this new page can play a role in reversing this pattern and getting people the information they need to prevent becoming addicted or overcome an addiction.”

“It just made sense for us to work with our partners at MSU Extension to build out the prevention messages for our opioid misuse prevention efforts at DMH,” said Molly Portera, director of the Department of Mental Health Division of Outreach and Training. “We were so grateful that Dr. Robertson and MSU came forward with this idea and that we could work together with Fahrenheit Creative Group to provide a consistent look and feel between the Stand Up, Mississippi messages and those that PROMISE sought to promote.”

The site is available at https://standupms.org/prevention/prevent/.

MSU is an equal opportunity institution. For disability accommodation, please contact Roberson at mnr72@msstate.edu.