West Virginia Attorney General issued the following announcement on May 27.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced a north central West Virginia student as the statewide winner of this year's Kids Kick Opioids contest, a public service announcement partnership with elementary and middle schools that encourages students to raise awareness of prescription painkiller abuse.
Judges selected Liliona McKenzie Wright, 14, of Rivesville Elementary/Middle School in Marion County as the statewide winner. They chose the eighth grader’s artwork from entries submitted by students across West Virginia.
Wright’s winning design features a drawing of a woman crying with a thought bubble depicting prescription pills above her head. “She was beautiful like a porcelain doll until she picked up the bottle, beauty began to fade as the doll cracked and shattered…,” the illustration reads.
“Liliona’s design shows the grim reality of the opioid epidemic and how opioid abuse can destroy lives,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “My congratulations to Liliona, our runner-up and all of our regional winners for their hard work in promoting awareness of opioid abuse. We must do everything possible to attack the root causes of addiction and teach our youth the serious consequences of drug abuse.”
Liliona’s design will soon appear in newspapers across West Virginia as the Attorney General’s next public service announcement.
Judges also recognized Caitlin Modesitt, an eighth-grade student at Ravenswood Middle School in Jackson County, as the statewide runner-up. Her design will appear with Liliona’s on the Attorney General’s website.
Judges recognized winning entries from 67 students overall. Liliona, Caitlin and each of the regional winners will have their work displayed at the State Capitol in the fall.
Kids Kick Opioids represents one of many initiatives through which the Attorney General has sought to combat West Virginia’s drug overdose death rate, including a lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that achieved sweeping reforms to the nation’s drug quota system.
The Attorney General also has combated the opioid crisis with civil litigation, multistate initiatives, funding to target opioid abuse, criminal prosecutions, new technology, engagement with the faith-based community and education.
The West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, West Virginia Association of School Nurses and the Capitol Police assisted the Attorney General in judging the public service announcement contest.
Original source can be found here.