We have invited Derek Franklin, Project Director of Mercer Island Communities That Care Coalition (MICTC), and Ramona Leber, Washington Association of Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (Treasurer), to our next Board of Trustees meeting. Ramona was the State Liaison for Community Mobilization for the past 20 years with the Department of Commerce. Derek Franklin is President of WASAVP. They will speak on the issues of I-502 Legalization of Marijuana and how we proceed to limit the health risks, especially to our youth. Our guest speakers come from over 20 years experience each in the field of Prevention and offer good insight on this topic. What do you want to know about I-502? Join us for this presentation and the conversation that will follow. Here are the details. Sponsored by the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition.
Friday, September 13th, 2013 at the Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church
11:30am Free Light lunch provided, please RSVP at prevention@centurytel.net
12noon-2pm Guest Speakers Derek Franklin & Ramona Leber and conversation to follow with Board of Trustees members and community members. All invited to join in!
For I-502 Implementation Rules visit:
http://liq.wa.gov/marijuana/I-502
FYI…NEWS from Mercer Island…City Receives Federal Grant for Communities That Care Project
Derek Franklin
Office of National Drug Control Policy Awards $625,000 to Local Coalition to Prevent Youth Substance Use in Mercer Island, WA
(Washington, D.C.) – Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced $7.9 million in new Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) grants to 60 communities and 6 new DFC Mentoring grants across the country. The awards announced today are in addition to the nearly $76.7 million in Continuation grants simultaneously released to 608 currently funded DFC coalitions and 18 DFC Mentoring Continuation coalitions. The Mercer Island Communities That Care Coalition (MICTC) from Mercer Island, WA was one of the grant recipients, and will receive $625,000 in DFC grant funds for five additional years of funding to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
MICTC is administered by Mercer Island Youth and Family Services, a department of the City of Mercer Island. It is composed of community leaders, parents, youth, school administrators, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, the media, and others working together at the local level.
“America’s success in the 21st century depends in part on our ability to help young people make decisions that will keep them healthy and safe,” said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy. “We congratulate this coalition on its work to raise a generation of young people equipped to remain drug free and ready to prosper in school, in their communities, and in the workplace. While law enforcement efforts will always serve a vital role in keeping our communities safe, we know that stopping drug use before it ever begins is always the smartest and most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences.”
“Efforts to keep our youth drug-free are critical to healthy and safe communities here on Mercer Island.” said Derek Franklin, MICTC Project Director. “The Drug-Free Communities Support Program recognizes the great work of MICTC to help save young people’s lives. This new funding will allow the coalition to continue to mobilize and organize their community to prevent youth substance use.”
“The driving forces of substance abuse prevention are the local community prevention and treatment programs that engage youth and their families in every facet of their lives – home, school, places of worship, health care settings, playgrounds, and community centers,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “SAMHSA is pleased to work with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to support community coalitions, which effectively bring people together from all parts of the community, to develop innovative ways of creating healthy and drug-free environments for our young people.”
MICTC will specifically work to address underage alcohol, marijuana, prescription drug, and tobacco use on Mercer Island.
The DFC Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, and reauthorized by Congress in 2001 and 2006. Since 1998, ONDCP has awarded more than 2,000 Drug-Free Communities grants to local communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Palau, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
In April, President Obama released the 2012 National Drug Control Strategy, the Administration’s primary blueprint for drug policy in the United States. The new Strategy promotes a “third way” approach to drug policy that supports alternatives to a law-enforcement-centric “war on drugs” or drug legalization. The Strategy also outlines specific actions to be undertaken by the Federal Government to reform U.S. drug policy through innovative and evidence-based public health and safety approaches, which include expanding access to drug treatment and recovery support programs, breaking the cycle of drug use, crime, and incarceration, and supporting youth outreach programs that prevent drug use before it begins.
The rate of overall drug use in the United States has declined by roughly 30 percent since 1979. To build on this progress and support public health approaches to drug control, the Obama Administration has requested over $10 billion in FY 2013 for drug prevention programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for people suffering from substance use disorders. This will build upon the $30 billion already spent over the past 3 years on drug use prevention and treatment.
For more information about the Office of National Drug Control Policy or the Drug Free Communities Support Program, visit: www.WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP