October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month!

President Obama proclaimed October 2011 as National Substance Abuse Prevention Month!  During this time, we recognize the important role that prevention has in our communities, celebrate its successes, and rally behind it for further support! 

LRADAC's Vice President for Community Services wrote the following editorial printed in The State paper on October 20, 2011

Prevention works

We often read of drug busts, DUIs, underage drinking and fatalities caused by substance abuse. We blame specific groups for these tragedies, debate how to justly handle offenders and worry that we may never win the war on drugs. What we forget is that we must start at the root of the problem and work to prevent these terrible outcomes.

As we recognize National Substance Abuse Month, people across our state are doing just that.

Grassroots organizations engage community partners to create drug-free peer groups in schools, host “Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet” events to fight prescription drug abuse and establish business covenants that push businesses to support prevention and hold one another accountable to their commitment to reduce access and availability.

Thanks to alcohol enforcement teams, the number of merchants in Richland and Lexington counties that sell to underage customers has dropped by nearly 7 percent in the past three years.

Prevention professionals and partners educate lawmakers and community members about the harms of substance abuse and advocate for programs to reduce substance abuse, such as the recently imposed city and county bans on bath salts and K2. These bans mean that fewer people will use these substances and suffer the incredible harm they cause.

Additionally, education and strategic marketing efforts have changed social norms regarding substance use. Not long ago, most people believed that cigarettes were harmless or that use of alcohol during pregnancy was acceptable. Today, the harmfulness of these practices is common knowledge, and users are in the small minority.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that each dollar invested in prevention results in savings of up to $7 in treatment and punishment. Effective prevention also lowers the rate of disease and eases the strain on health-care systems.

Together, we must work to reduce the availability of substances, promote responsible use or abstinence, enforce drug and alcohol laws, create policies and laws that justly manage their sale and use, and enable community members to make safe decisions each day.

We create a safer and healthier environment when we reduce access and increase the perception of harm that substance abuse causes. Evidence-based prevention strategies allow us to continually and effectively reduce the harmful effects drugs and alcohol have on our family and friends and, ultimately, our community.

Deborah B. Early