January 27 to February 2 is National Drug Facts Week. This drug education and prevention week was launched by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2010. One week each year, the NIDA dedicates that time to educate teens and their families about drug use and abuse, explore prevention methods and to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse that teens are hearing everyday while in school or through the media.
Across the country, the NIDA will create and hold community events where teens will come together with drug abuse experts and begin an open dialogue and have honest conversations about drugs, the consequences of drug use and abuse and how drugs affect the mind and the body. Many of the events will be held at school assemblies, after school clubs, athletic events and other community venues.
Substance abuse, chemical dependency and drug and alcohol abuse among teens is an issue that many schools and families face, often in alarmingly regularity and more often than in the past. The dangers of new, harder drugs has made the need for this type of drug abuse education and prevention event even more prevalent in the minds of educators, families and health and drug addiction treatment providers. The NIDA’s National Drug Facts Week is a health observance week aimed at teens and uses community-based events and activities, local and national exposure through the web and television to encourage teens to get factual information and answers from scientific and medical experts about drugs and drug abuse.
In the local Maryland area, here is a list of local events:
Jewish Community Services and Jewish Community Center
When: January 30, 2014
Where:
Owings Mills Jewish Community Center
3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills, MD 21117
(410) 356-5200
What:
New Youth Culture Tour Concert. Hard driving rock band of recovering folks with all original music and clear messages. Free to middle and high school aged people.
Blake High School
When: January 9, 2014
Where:
Blake High School
300 Norwood Road
Silver Spring, MD 20905
(301) 879-1300
What:
Displays of student’s creative work and dance at the annual dance concert.
Brave and Bold Coalition
When: January 30, 2014
Where:
Rockville, MD
What:
Combination assembly, game and education campaign. Parent/student small group dialogue facilitated by prevention and addiction specialists. Also may be a “Minute-to-Win-It” drug fact game
Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center
When: January 27, 2014
Where:
Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center
40 S. Carroll Street
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 698-0656
What:
Art exhibit featuring works by teen members of On the Mark Adolescent Activity Center. The mission of On the Mark is to provide a safe, community-based adolescent clubhouse/sober activities center with developmentally appropriate services grounded in a peer-based support system. This exhibit will be on display from January 27 through February 28, 2014.
Anne Arundel Community College
When: January 29, 2014
Where:
Anne Arundel Community College
101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012
(410) 777-2222
What:
Displays with information about drug abuse among college students will be placed in multiple locations on campus. Information on where to go for help and different drug abuse treatment services will also be provided.
For more information on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and its National Drug Facts Week, visit their web site at https://drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov/index.php
Maryland Addiction Recovery Center offers adolescent and adult detox, PHP and IOP substance abuse treatment in Towson, Maryland and the surrounding areas of Baltimore County, Baltimore City and throughout Maryland. If you or a loved one is in need of help due to drug and alcohol abuse issues, please call us at (410) 773-0500 or email info@marylandaddictionrecovery.com. Additional information on our teen drug treatment services can be found at our web site, marylandaddictionrecovery.com
Table of Contents
