The Opioid Crisis

The Opioid Epidemic in South Louisiana

In my senior year of college at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, I had the opportunity to work with the District Attorney’s Office of Lafayette to help combat the opioid epidemic. My team created a strategic communication campaign that can be used by District Attorney Don Landry to inform the public of how opioid use can be reduced. Attached below is the full campaign that won first place for the class of Strategic Campaign Management in the Department of Communication.

The opioid epidemic in South Louisiana has been an ever-growing problem since marketing new pain management drugs in the early 1990s. Red Hot Innovations approached the office of the District Attorney for the 15th Judicial Court in August of 2021 to assist in creating a strategic communication campaign. The DA’s office has recently implemented innovative criminal procedures to help combat the growing opioid abuse and use rate in South Louisiana. Still, it is unaware of how to relay resources and information to reduce the number of non-violent opioid-related cases. Red Hot Innovations proceeded to conduct both primary and secondary research to implement the best possible strategic campaign for the office of the District Attorney.

The campaign focuses on non-violent drug crimes in Lafayette, Vermillion, and Acadia Parishes. According to Governor John Bel Edwards, as of 2018, there were over 450 opioid-related deaths in the state of Louisiana, and the number has continued to increase. The CDC has also ranked Louisiana 5th in the nation for prescribing drugs classified as opioids. The District Attorney’s office is the primary source for individuals facing criminal prosecution. With the creation of the District Attorney’s Pre-Trial intervention program and Drug Court program, the office wanted to make its target audience better aware of their efforts to help reduce the opioid epidemic.