Starting today, the message “Start Talking!” will be on billboards across northeast Ohio…and the state.
The outdoor advertising blitz involves hundreds of digital-display and conventional signs and is aimed at helping stem the Opioid crisis.
The idea is to get kids and parents or other trusted adults talking about the dangers of drug abuse. Eric Wandersleben, director of Media Relations and Outreach for Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, says when that happens research shows the children are up to 50 percent less likely to use drugs.
He says the billboards are being donated by members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Ohio. “The timing couldn’t be better. Families are packing up the car and heading over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house for the Thanksgiving feast. And so, when they see those billboards we’re hoping that prompts families to have those conversations.”
The billboards will also encourage motorists to use the Highway Patrol’s #-677 to call in erratic driving or suspected drug activity along the highway.