Substance Abuse Prevention a Community Effort

Members of Teens Against Drunk Driving who participated in a “shoulder taps” event in Medford last year in which the teens asked adults to purchase alcohol. Back, left to right- Alton Palmer, Jermaine Henderson, and Michael Henderson. Front, left to right- Sherine Thelemaque, Jenn Mui, and Tia Elliot. Courtesy photo.

In 2009, 8th graders in Medford reported higher rates of use for alcohol, binge drinking, marijuana, cigarette, smokeless tobacco and cocaine than the national 8th grade rates. The trend continued in high school with 12th graders in Medford also reporting rates above the national rates for alcohol and drug use in the above categories.

In an effort to combat these trends, Medford Health Matters’ Substance Abuse Taskforce looks for opportunities to bring community members (including parents, neighbors and youth) together with city departments (including the health department, police and schools) to design and implement strategies that foster positive youth development, challenge social norms around underage drinking and drug use and enforce existing laws that protect our youth.

Our accomplishments this past year include “The Amazing Race” which was run by Team TADD West (Teens Against Drinking and Drugs) during spring break to open up a dialogue amongst Medford youth about the risks of underage drinking and drug use. We have also continued our text messaging campaign, “I’m Allergic to Stupid Decisions,” created by Team TADD South. When teens text TADD to 69302 they receive excuses not to drink, health facts on underage drinking and alternatives to drinking. Another social marketing campaign, created by the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) at Medford High School, was implemented this past year to encourage parents to talk to their kids about underage drinking.

We also partnered with the Medford Police and Health Department to conduct alcohol and tobacco compliance checks to ensure that alcohol and tobacco vendors are not selling to youth. Most recently, the Medford Police and Health Department partnered together to host a medication drop off day as part of the National Drug Take Back Initiative on September 25th, an effort to properly dispose of unused medication and keep them out of the hands of our youth. The day was a huge success, with 7 full trash bags and 3 boxes of medication collected in Medford. It was inspiring to see the entire community rally behind the effort.

This academic year promises to be another busy year of partnerships and collaboration to combat underage drinking and drug use in Medford. The Substance Abuse Taskforce has begun dialogues this fall with school administrators and parents to foster further collaborative efforts. We want to hear from parents, youth, teachers and other adult role models about how we can come together as a community and support our youth.

For more information, or to become involved in these efforts, go to www.medfordhealthmatters.org or contact Tiana Wilkinson twilkinson@glfhc.org or Penny Bruce pbruce@medford.org.

– Information from Medford Health Matters