Youth Leadership Project News:
Banner Swap Events are taking place around the Region!
 

A new activity is unveiling this fall! The "Banner Swap" campaign, as we have coined it, will be conducted by the Prevention Youth Council (PYC) student groups from across the region. The campaign involved the PYCs approaching business owners in their communities to address and reduce alcohol signage. This is an important and crucial feat as the average person is exposed to hundreds of thousands of alcohol advertisements before the age of 18. Some pediatricians have concluded that the higher the level of exposure to these advertisements, the more likely a person under the legal drinking age will be to drink alcohol (see CADCA article:http://www.cadca.org/resources/detail/pediatricians-say-ads-alcohol-tobacco-and-prescription-drugs-hurt-youth ).

Through a collaborative effort with the New Hampshire Center for Excellence, new community-friendly, seasonal banners have been created endorsing that "the North Country welcomes tourist and visitors" to the region rather than beer distributors being the welcoming party. The PYCs have been provided with important talking points regarding the research around alcohol advertising and youth alcohol consumption. It is a hope of the campaign that business owners truly develop an understanding of the negative influence that the advertisements have on youth and their decisions to drink alcohol. In creating this understanding, a reduction in youth exposure to alcohol signage can be achieved if the businesses agree to take down their alcohol banners and trade them in for community-friendly banners provided free to them through the North Country Community Substance Abuse Prevention Program.

Through this collaborative effort with the PYCs and the businesses in the region, the level of alcohol signage can drastically be reduced and can truly create more family-friendly communities where youth aren't bombarded with product promotion in their everyday lives.

Alcohol is the number one drug abused by youth nationwide. Through efforts such as the Banner Swap campaign, underage drinking in the North Country can be reduced. After all, "Prevention is Everyone's Business."

 The Lin-Wood Prevention Youth Council in Lincoln, NH was eager to conduct their Banner Swap Campaign. Pictured above is a before and after picture of a successful banner swap at a Lincoln convenience store.

For more information on the Youth Leadership Project or
to apply for a Youth Grant, please visit:
http://www.nchc-csap.org/youthgrants.html.

Article Adopted from Google News by Alicia A. Caldwell

WASHINGTON - A daylong, nationwide effort to get people to turn in old or unwanted prescription drugs collected more than 121 tons of unused medicine.

With prescription drug abuse on the rise, the goal was to keep the drugs from falling into the hands of abusers and criminals.

The Drug Enforcement Administration organized the national prescription drug "Take-Back" day for Sept. 25. Officials offered people across the country a free, anonymous and legal way to get rid of potentially dangerous prescription drugs that have been cluttering medicine cabinets.

"The Take-Back Campaign was a stunning nationwide success that cleaned out more than 121 tons of pills from America's medicine cabinets, a crucial step toward reducing the epidemic of prescription drug abuse that is plaguing this nation," DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement Tuesday.

DEA spokesman David Ausiello said people across the country flocked to more than 4,000 sites to get rid of old drugs and just about anything they got with a prescription that they didn't need any more, including needles.

Authorities said a woman in Jacksonville, Ill., handed over drugs she's collected for the last 50 years while a man in Troy, Mo., hauled a kitchen drawer packed with medicine to a drop-off site.

It's illegal to turn over unused prescriptions to anyone other than law enforcement. But the House and Senate have passed legislation allowing state and private entities to create responsible drug take-back programs. The bill awaits President Barack Obama's signature.

Ausiello said DEA officials are likely to hold at least one more take-back day before any legislation takes effect.

During the six years ending in 2006, there was a 175 percent increase in accidental prescription overdoses, according to federal data.

By 2009, 7 million Americans aged 12 and older abused prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. That was up from 6.3 million in 2008.

Unsure of what to do with unused prescriptions, countless people flush them down the toilet, potentially sending unwanted medicines into the water supply. Or worse, they throw old medicines out, giving drug-seeking criminals a chance to find them in the trash.

The take-back program, Ausiello said, gave federal authorities a chance to collect and then incinerate the drugs.

North Country Take Back Results

The North Country had a total of six collection sites set up for the DEA National Take Back event on September 25th: Colebrook Police Department, Lancaster Transfer Station, Guildhall Sheriffs Department, Berlin Police Department, Haverhill Police Department, and Lincoln Police Department. The Coos County collection sites took in a total of 175 pounds of old/unwanted medications and Grafton County took in 43 pounds of old/unwanted medications. Our region contributed to the New Hampshire total of 2,479 pounds of medications.

To view the Google News article, please visit: 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j4_rEaOMUcH4cFn9p3UuF3UACmgQD9ILRP5G0?docId=D9ILRP5G0

Profile School's Friends of Rachel (FOR) Club are pictured here planting their tulip bulbs for Red Ribbon Week's "Plant the Promise" campaign. (From left to right:Rachel Moss, Liz Weed, Leanza Hunt, Laurissa Johnson)

October 23^rd-31^st marked the official 2010 Red Ribbon Week. During Red Ribbon Week, youth around the nation engage in various activities promoting the message to live drug-free in order to achieve your dreams. Red Ribbon Week is an opportunity to engage students in resistance building activities in which they join their classmates and schools and unite in the stand against substance abuse.

Each year, thousands of tulip bulbs are planted around the country in honor of Red Ribbon Week in an effort called the "Plant the Promise" campaign. The campaign asks individuals and organizations to plant tulip bulbs in the fall, which then bloom in April the following year during National Alcohol Awareness Month. This serves as a reminder that prevention is an ongoing and year-round endeavor.

North Country schools were given the opportunity to participate in the Plant the Promise campaign for Red Ribbon Week 2010. The NH National Guard partnered with the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grantees (SPF SIG) in the 10 regions indentified in the state to provide 1,500 tulip bulbs free of charge to each region to be distributed to interested schools/youth groups in that region to contribute to the nationwide effort.

The schools/groups who participated in the campaign were the Profile Friends of Rachel club, the Stratford Prevention Youth Council and 4-H group, the Woodsville SADD group, the Lin-wood Prevention Youth Council, the Stewartstown Prevention Youth Council, the Colebrook Prevention Youth Council, and the Littleton High Prevention Youth Council in partnership with the Lakeway Elementary students.

The North Country Substance Abuse Prevention Program would like to thank the NH National Guard for providing the tulip bulbs for the campaign as well as the participating youth groups from the North Country for playing a major role in this prevention effort. This April, red tulips will be popping up in the participating communities near schools and local businesses, ringing true that prevention is a year-round, collaborative effort.  

The Stratford Prevention Youth Council and the Stratford 4-H group are pictured here planting tulip bulbs in honor of Red Ribbon Week around the Stratford Public School sign.

History of the Great American Smokeout:

The Great American Smokeout has helped to spotlight the dangers of tobacco use and the challenges of quitting, but more importantly, it has set the stage for the cultural revolution in tobacco control that has occurred over this period.

Because of the efforts of individuals and groups that have led anti-tobacco efforts, there have been significant landmarks in the areas of research, policy, and the environment:

• In 1977, Berkeley, California became the first community to limit smoking in restaurants and other public places.

• In 1983, San Francisco passed the first strong workplace smoking restrictions, including bans on smoking in private workplaces.

• In 1990, the federal smoking ban on all interstate buses and domestic flights of six hours or less took effect.

• In 1994, the state of Mississippi filed the first of 24 state lawsuits seeking to recuperate millions of dollars from tobacco companies for smokers' Medicaid Bills.

• In 1999, the Department of Justice filed suit against cigarette manufacturers, charging the industry with defrauding the public by lying about the risks of smoking.

• In 1999, the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was passed, requiring tobacco companies to pay $206 billion to 45 states by the year 2025 to cover Medicaid costs of treating smokers. The MSA agreement also closed the Tobacco Institute and ended cartoon advertising and tobacco billboards.

• In 2009, "The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" was signed into law and gives the FDA the authority to regulate the sale, manufacturing, and marketing of tobacco products and protects children from tobacco industry's marketing practices.

"Those are just a few of the remarkable changes in the age-old acceptance of smoking as our cultural norm. What we have been doing can be characterized as the denormalization of smoking as an acceptable behavior, and positioning it for what it actually is - a killer of nearly half a million Americans every year." said Dileep G. Bal, MD, MS, MPH, national president of the American Cancer Society.

An estimated 46 million adults in the United States currently smoke, and approximately half will die prematurely from smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women and more than 80% of lung cancers are thought to result from smoking. Smoking causes nearly one in five deaths from all causes.

The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout event grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, MA, in which Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on Nov. 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. The first national Great American Smokeout was held in 1977.

During the next 34 years the Smokeout was celebrated with rallies, parades, stunts, quitting information, and even "cold turkey" menu items in schools, workplaces, Main Streets, and legislative halls throughout the US.

This information was adopted from the American Cancer Society website.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GreatAmericanSmokeout/history-of-the-great-american-smokeout

Rick Labell Visits the North Country
Investigator Rick Labell of the Raymond Police Department presents his "Winning it All"
program to North Country Students.

Profile Senior High School Students, grades 7-12, look on as presenter
Rick Labell and his student volunteer demonstrate the dangers of
impaired driving using a pair of fatal vision goggles.

Investigator Rick Labell with the Raymond Police Department visited 3 North Country student bodies to present his "Winning it All" program. Profile Senior High School, Berlin High School, and Linwood School were happy to have Rick come speak to their students about resisting the worst in life and becoming their best.

Rick was raised in a violent alcoholic family and spending 25 years in law enforcement has had a profound effect on Rick Labell and instead of letting all the valuable knowledge he gained from those personal and professional experiences go to waste, he decided to put them to good use.

Rick is an expert in the areas of drugs, alcohol and teen dating violence. He passionately demonstrates to teens how to stay safe and delivers to young people the culmination of his encounters inspiring them to refuse the worst life has to offer so that they can become the best that their personal abilities will allow them to be.

Rick's accomplishments have earned him recognition by his peers and numerous awards. He received "The Working Chiefs Award" from New Hampshire Standards and Training for his continued efforts investigating sex crimes while also successfully heading up the Newton, New Hampshire Police Department as their Police Chief.

He was the Keynote Speaker at both the 11th annual New Hampshire Statewide Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect and the annual Conference of the New Hampshire Coalition against Domestic Violence.

Rick was awarded "The National Crime Victims Week Award" by the Rockingham County Attorney's Office for his exemplary effort and dedication in providing exceptional service to crime victims. He also received the  "Victims Advocate Award"  from the Rockingham County Child Advocacy Center.

Rick speaks to thousands of students at high schools and middle schools each year and has had the honor of presenting to organizations such as, FCCLA, HOSA, FBLA and Teen Institute throughout the country. His presentations about leadership, substance abuse and the techniques for staying safe allow teenagers to make better choices and healthier decisions.

Considered a leading expert in his field, Rick continues his career in law enforcement as the Sexual Assault Investigator within the Detectives Division of the Raymond, New Hampshire Police Department.

Rick is the father of three grown children Michael, Kevin and his late daughter Kelly. He makes his home in Newton, New Hampshire with his wife Donna and their two dogs Ringo and Abbey.

The North Country Community Substance Abuse Prevention Program was pleased to sponsor Rick Labell's presentation in the North Country. We hope that others may be able to take advantage of bringing this experienced and energetic performer in the future.

For more information on Rick Labell and the various programs he presents, please visit: http://www.labellpresentations.com/index.html