February 7th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced the 2018-19 “Kids Kick Opioids” public service announcement contest is now open for submissions as the initiative enters its third school year.
 
The contest engages elementary and middle school students in designing a PSA that raises awareness about prescription painkiller abuse. Potential submissions may be a poem, drawing, letter or anything that would promote awareness.
 
“The opioid epidemic resonates in classrooms across West Virginia,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “‘Kids Kick Opioids’ has underscored that reality in a manner that few other initiatives accomplish by, in some cases, giving students an outlet to express their concerns, while using the creativity and talent of all participants to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic with the goal of providing a better future for their generation.”
 
Students can work individually or in groups. The top submission will appear as a statewide newspaper PSA. Regional winners will be displayed in the Capitol.
 
“Kids Kicks Opioids” has drawn thousands of submissions from more than 4,000 West Virginia students. Students from 118 different schools across 43 of the state’s 55 counties have participated.
 
More than 1,000 West Virginians lost their lives to a drug overdose in 2017, many of which were opioid related.
 
Reversing this trend has been a top priority for the Attorney General. He has fought the epidemic on multiple fronts with criminal prosecutions, funding to combat opioid abuse, civil litigation, multistate initiatives, new technology, engagement with the faith-based community and education.
 
Contest entries must be post marked by April 5 by mail to the Attorney General’s Office at 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E. State Capitol Building 1, Room 26-E, Charleston, WV 25305, or sent by email to AGPSA.contest@wvago.gov.