By Sherry Larson
People’s Defender
Let’s talk about youth drug prevention. Starting this all-important conversation led the Adams County Medical Foundation to act, and they encouraged others to keep the conversation going.
This year’s Red Ribbon Week is October 23 – 31. In 1985, a Drug Enforcement Administration Agent, Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, was tortured and killed in Mexico. Kiki served to battle against illegal drugs, and his friends honored him by wearing red satin badges. As coalitions formed, they modeled Kiki and his belief that one person can make a difference. They adopted the Red Ribbon and its campaign to organize communities to educate and encourage youth in drug prevention.
Several years ago, the Adams County Medical Foundation established a Data Prevention Committee to obtain information regarding youth drug and alcohol usage. Executive Director Sherry Stout said, “Approximately nine years ago, the Adams County Medical Foundation questioned the lack of grants funded for our community. Obviously, there is a high need for funding in many areas, such as prevention, education, and health care, and having strong data is the key to sharing our story outside this community. Data specific to our youth wasn’t readily available. The Foundation identified a grant opportunity focused on building a data system through SAMSHA and applied. We didn’t get funded from the first round; however, we did receive a $2,500 mini-grant to build the Foundation’s capacity for a data system using the Ohio Healthy Youth Environment Survey (OHYES!). One of the first activities was to create the Data Prevention Committee and to partner with our local school districts to implement the data collection.”
Stout continued, “At this point, we have a strong database of information about our youth covering a wide variety of issues such as underage drinking, vaping, tobacco, bullying, mental health, etc., that can be used to write grants and build important youth programs. The first mini-grant led to the opportunity to bring in over $350,000 in grant funds over the past few years to support prevention efforts. Of course, this work doesn’t occur in isolation, so our partnerships with the Ohio Valley School District, the Manchester Local School District, the Adams County Health Department, the Adams County Health & Wellness Coalition, the Drug-Free Adams County Coalition, the Adams County Court System, and all the wonderful prevention personnel helped in this initiative.”
The theme of Red Ribbon Week is “Be kind to your mind. Live drug-free.” We encourage schools, businesses, and organizations to participate in Red Ribbon Week. Redribbon.org offers many ideas for activities for educators during the week. But anyone can join in to support the cause. Wear red ribbons, decorate your home or office, make banners, and, most importantly, start a conversation.