Welcome to the Drug-Free Action Alliance
October 2011 E-Newsletter
Please join us in welcoming Malaika Stubbs-Wilson in her role as Program Director for Drug-Free Action Alliance’s SOLACE initiative.
Malaika’s experience in the field of prevention is extensive. She received her Masters Degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is currently working on her PHD through The Ohio State University.
Malaika served as the Program Coordinator for OSU’s College of Public Health, where she managed a multi-project Tobacco Treatment Center Evaluation involving five Ohio Tobacco Treatment Centers.
Prior to that, Malaika served as Program Coordinator for the Guilford County Department of Public Health in Greensboro, NC, where she coordinated efforts for the Guilford County Campus Tobacco Use Prevention Program.
Malaika is affiliated faculty at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. Among other honors, Malaika received an award of excellence in Teen Tobacco Prevention from North Carolina’s Health and Wellness Trust Fund.
Marcie Seidel, DFAA Executive Director shared her excitement on Malaika joining the team, “We are so pleased to have Malaika managing the statewide SOLACE program. Her public health experience along with her ability to encourage individuals and build community networks makes her the perfect individual to help expand the SOLACE network throughout Ohio."
Please read on to learn more about DFAA’s newest initiative; SOLACE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surrounded by SOLACE mothers holding pictures
of the children they lost to
prescription drug abuse, Gov. John Kasich signs House Bill 93 into law.
Drug-Free Action Alliance Introduces SOLACE
SOLACE is an acronym for Surviving Our Losses and Continuing Everyday… The mission of this group is to reach people who have lost loved ones to drugs, to help the addicted make changes to their lives and to prevent future pain in the addict and family members. This initiative is one of tragic loss and wings of hope, arising out of a mother’s grief over her beloved son’s death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drug-Free Action
Featuring:
Community
Coalition Members Stepping into the Ring for the
This month’s Coalition
Spotlight shines on the many statewide coalition members who came
together for the Marijuana as Medicine
Summit, hosted by the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Prevention Association of
Ohio (ADAPAO) and Drug-Free Action Alliance (DFAA). More than 100 community
members from around
To read the full story click here.
To all those who are standing strong and united with DFAA and ADAPAO
in the battle to keep marijuana from being treated as medicine through
legislation or ballot decision, we applaud your efforts and we encourage you to
keep up the great work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join Drug-Free Action Alliance for a Two-Day National Training
Beyond Billboards & Brochures: Using
Parents Who Host, Lose the Most:
Don't be a party to teenage drinking to MOBILIZE
your community!
November 9 & 10, 2011 Columbus, Ohio
Day One: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Day Two: 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Conference Fee:
$55/Person (exclusive to those living or working within Ohio)
$250/Person
or $850/Team of 4 (living or working outside of Ohio)
Includes 10.5 RCH/CEUs, Manual with Planning Tools Disk, Day 1 Lunch & Day 2 Breakfast
While Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking is a nationally recognized initiative that has been implemented in all 50 states, many use the message as a public awareness campaign, and do not fully maximize the initiative’s benefits.
Join Drug-Free Action Alliance director of programs, Allison Sharer and Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws program manager, Derek Longmeier in this two-day training that will combine the Strategic Prevention Framework with the 7 Community Change Strategies. While the topic area is underage drinking prevention through Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking, the model is designed so Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking can be replaced with other prevention topics to reach a different target audience, further meeting community needs.
Visit DrugFreeActionAlliance.org to Register Now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attorney
General Mike DeWine Partners with the
October 29th – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"Overdoses
from prescription drugs are killing four Ohioans every day. This is a tragic
number. We are working hard to get prescription drugs off of our streets and
one of the ways Ohioans can help is to get unused and expired medicines out of
the house and disposed of properly," said Attorney General DeWine.
The National Drug Take Back initiative encourages people to dispose of unused and expired medications at designated locations. There will be over 4,000 designated drop off locations accepting medications. The Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) will provide law enforcement personnel to assist at each site.
Click here to find a Drug Take Back location near you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations
to Our Newly Selected
Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC) Members
High school students from around the state have been carefully selected through a nomination and review process to serve as YPC members. This elite group of youth will be voicing their opinions, making important funding decisions and influencing community change throughout Ohio on the subject of substance abuse prevention.
Returning
YPC Members:
Cassidy Claffey:
Wellston High School (Wellston)
Jamie Farrell: Riverdale Local High School (Forest)
Cory Morgan: Liberty-Benton High School (Findlay)
Paris Morris: Jackson High School (Jackson)
Macy Reef: Delta High School (Delta)
New YPC Members:
Julie Archer: Granville High School (Newark)
Camden Argyle: Granville High School (Granville)
Haylie Galloway: Buckeye Valley High School (Delaware)
LeAnn Greer: Revere High School (Richfield)
Savannah Justus: Licking Valley High School (Newark)
Lisa Munnerlyn: Africentric High School (Columbus)
Timothy Ney: Licking Heights High School (Pataskala)
Joshua Perez: Fremont Ross High School (Fremont)
Jack Raymond: Lakota Local High School (Kansas)
Jennica Wilson: Pleasant High School (Marion)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KNOW! empowers
parents to raise their children to be substance-free with twice monthly
alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related information tips designed to get
conversations
between parent and child started and to keep them going.
Know! To Talk About Heroin
Do parents of the average tween/teen really need to be
talking to their child about such a hard-core, street drug? The unfortunate
reality is, “yes,” because heroin, black tar heroin specifically, has become
much more mainstream, with some youth reportedly experimenting with this drug
even before alcohol.
Why the surge in popularity? Black tar heroin is cheap,
easy for kids to obtain and provides a powerful high.
Today’s heroin is said to be 15 times more pure than heroin of the ‘70’s. It is also viewed by today’s youth quite differently than in the past. The typical heroin user these days could easily be the girl next door (the one your child has grown up with), the popular boy at school (the one your child possibly looks up to), or the academically-driven student (the one you may least expect to ever try such a thing). Our children look around and see regular peers in their everyday world using this incredibly dangerous, highly addictive drug. In reality, these are the new faces of heroin.
Click here for the full Know! Parent Tip.
Click here to sign up for FREE Know! Parent Tips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December provides terrific opportunities for communicating the Drug Free 24/7 message within your organizations, schools, workplaces, and broad community. The last month of the year includes several cultural holidays which are sometimes celebrated with alcohol, and New Year’s Eve, the last day of the month, is often linked strongly with alcohol use.
Because of these celebrations and recognitions, the prevalence of parents hosting underage drinking parties also increases in December.
Your community can develop social marketing strategies to both counter the connections between alcohol and the holidays and address the risks of hosting underage drinking parties.
Sharing the Drug Free Holiday Message
Other December observances you can use to create a Drug Free 24/7 campaign:
National
Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
www.stopimpaireddriving.org
World AIDS Day - World AIDS Campaign
The time to plan for December implementation is now!
For consistent messaging which lends to larger media impact, tie all activities together with the Drug Free 24/7 theme name "Drug Free 24/7, The Way To Go!"
Drug-Free Action Alliance offers high-quality promotional materials to assist in your substance abuse prevention efforts.
Click here to view our storefront of Drug Free 24/7 campaign materials.
Please note: Proceeds from sales benefits substance abuse prevention programming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EVENTS/TRAININGS/OPPORTUNITIES
Tuesday – Thursday, November 15 – 17, 2011
Crowne Plaza Hotel - Dublin, OH
The goal for the Ohio Prevention and Education Conference (OPEC) is to revitalize and build on the existing capacity of Ohio’s prevention workforce to enhance the delivery of evidence-based prevention strategies in the places where people work, live, learn and recreate.
This conference is geared toward professionals working in the fields of alcohol and other drug prevention, education, law enforcement and juvenile justice, members of community coalitions and faith-based organizations, as well as others interested in promoting collaboration across disciplines and community sectors to build a safe and drug-free Ohio.
For the full OPEC agenda, available workshops
and registration information please visit:
http://www.drugfreeactionalliance.org/files/opecreg12.pdf
FREE
Online Audio Teleconference
Alcohol
and Crime
Thursday, November
17, 2011
3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
This teleconference will examine crimes committed in the U.S. where alcohol is a factor. The Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, beginning in the spring of 2005, received funding support to collect and evaluate alcohol-related arrest data to more accurately determine the scope and impact of alcohol on crime, with the purpose of formulating effective enforcement strategies to reduce the number of alcohol-related crimes and traffic crashes in Wyoming. The data collection has been refined and expanded since then, and the overall conclusions will be shared by a well-respected researcher in the field of criminal justice, including what local communities can do to reduce alcohol-related crime in their areas.
To register online visit: http://www.udetc.org/audioconfregistration.asp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ON
THE CALENDAR
Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31): www.nfp.org
National Drug Facts Week (October 31-November 6): www.drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov
Lung Cancer Awareness Month (November): www.lungcanceralliance.org
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Awareness Month (November): www.uscopdcoalition.org
Great American Smokeout (November 17): http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GreatAmericanSmokeout/index
National Family Week (November 20 – 26): www.nationalfamilyweek.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
