Pharmaceutical drugs and your community toolkit
How communities can reduce harm from medicines, with or without a prescription.
Preventing pharmaceutical drug harm in your community
Local Drug Action Teams work with their communities to help people use medicines more safely and know where to get support.
What is pharmaceutical drug harm?
Using certain pharmaceutical drugs in ways other than intended, with or without a prescription, is a major public health concern. It can cause considerable harm to physical and mental health, including overdose and death.
Harm is more common among people living with complex health needs or mental health issues, such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression or insomnia.
Common pharmaceutical drugs of concern
- opioids, such as oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine and codeine
- benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Xanax and temazepam
- pain relievers (analgesics), such as paracetamol and ibuprofen
- antidepressants and antipsychotics
- performance and image enhancing drugs.
How Local Drug Action Teams use it
Local Drug Action Teams use this toolkit to work with their communities to:
- promote the safer use of medicines
- raise awareness of alternative therapies with fewer negative side effects
- encourage people who may be having issues with pharmaceutical drugs to seek help.
Pharmaceutical drugs play a larger part in the lives of older adults, but harms happen in all age groups, so the toolkit can be used with people of any age. For activities focused on older people, see the Alcohol, other drugs and older adults toolkit.
Where it fits in the LDAT program
Local Drug Action Teams use this toolkit as part of a Prevention Community Action Plan (CAP). For general information on working with your community, see community approaches and consulting your community.
How Local Drug Action Teams are responding
- Adelaide’s Radio Italiana 531: this LDAT set out to educate older Italians about the risks of prescription medications, then widened its work to include young people and families.
What’s in the full toolkit
The full toolkit gives Local Drug Action Teams practical guidance, including:
- key points for Local Drug Action Teams
- drawing on existing programs
- guiding principles
- considerations for planning and delivery
- key activity and measuring success
- key steps.
If you’re part of a Local Drug Action Team, you can use the full toolkit on the LDAT platform.
Partner with a Local Drug Action Team
Local Drug Action Teams work with local organisations, such as schools, councils, sporting clubs and health services, to prevent alcohol and other drug harm in their communities. See where LDATs are on our map, and if your organisation would like to partner with one, contact us.
Last reviewed: 9 October 2026