This Week! SAMHSA-Sponsored PSA Contest

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA/CSAP) is hosting a public service announcement (PSA) contest that provides young adults the opportunity to show how they are working to prevent alcohol and substance abuse and promote emotional well-being in their community.

 

The PSA contest will help kick off a new SAMHSA initiative called National Prevention Week 2012. SAMHSA is inviting young adults, aged 18-25, to create a 15- or 30-second PSA that embraces the theme We Are the Ones. The deadline is April 15, 2011.

 

More information about This Week! Features can be viewed at the Center's Web site. 

 

Prevention Update, New Technology Tools: Using Social Media for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention, Now Posted

When it comes to using social media technology for alcohol, drug abuse, and violence prevention, Thomas Workman, at Baylor College of Medicine's John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science, points out that social media is interactive. "That means we communicate in a very different way, which poses a challenge for people in the college prevention field who have relied on one-way social marketing or substance interaction to communicate prevention messages. Social media is fundamentally interactive, which means that I am entering a conversation rather than a declaration, and I'll get responses that may contradict my message. But how that conversation goes has great preventative power even though there is no message control."

To view online or download New Technology Tools: Using Social Media for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention, please visit the Prevention Updates page on the Center's Web site.    

 

Announcement: DEA Bans Synthetic Marijuana Chemicals

On March 1, 2011, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that the chemicals used to make synthetic marijuana products, such as "Spice" and "K2," and any products containing the chemicals, are illegal to possess or sell in the United States. This emergency action was necessary to prevent an imminent threat to public health and safety. The action will remain in effect for at least one year with a possible six-month extension while the DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services further study whether these chemicals should be permanently controlled.

 

More information about this announcement can be viewed at the Center's Web site.  

  

Now Accepting Applications: Associate Project Director 

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention at Education Development Center, Inc. is looking for an Associate Project Director. The primary role of this position is to:

1. Supervise Center technical and administrative staff.
2. Work with the Center Director, Associate Center Director, and Project Associate to coordinate the financial management of the contract.
3. Work closely with the Center Director and Associate Center Director to coordinate and carry out contract deliverables.
4. Coordinate the work of project staff, as well as help coordinate various trainings and meetings, including training institutes, online trainings, emerging issues and expert panel meetings.

This is a full-time position, located on-site in Newton, Massachusetts.

 

Please visit the Education Development Center's Candidate Manager for more information and to apply.