Washington County Voters Uphold Strict Flavored Nicotine Ban
DEA Recognizes First Ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day
WASHINGTON – Read Online
In an effort to save lives, DEA is proud to join “Song for Charlie” and many of our valued public health, non-profit, and law enforcement partners in recognizing the first ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day. This day is an effort to educate individuals around the dangerous threat that fentanyl poses to the safety, health, and national security of the American people.
To mark National Fentanyl Awareness Day, DEA released a video announcement from DEA Administrator Anne Milgram stressing the dangers of fentanyl and the need for urgent action.
“Fentanyl is killing Americans at unprecedented rates,” said Milgram. “On this first-ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day, please help save lives by making sure you talk with your friends and family about the dangers of this deadly drug.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It is inexpensive, widely available, and highly addictive. Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—to drive addiction and create repeat customers. Many people who are overdosing and dying don’t even know that they are taking fentanyl.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, nearly 107,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending November 2021. Sixty-six percent of overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
DEA has created a special exhibit for its museum, The Faces of Fentanyl, to commemorate the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning. If you would like to submit a photo of a loved one lost to fentanyl, please submit their name and photo to fentanylawareness@dea.gov, or post a photo and their name to social media using the hashtag #NationalFentanylAwarenessDay. For more information on the dangers of fentanyl and DEA resources, visit www.DEA.gov/fentanylawareness.
Statewide Naloxone Mail Order Program Launched
A statewide mail order Naloxone program, facilitated by the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance (PHRA) allows any WA State resident that has a mailing address outside of King County to request up to two free nasal naloxone kits on an as-needed basis. Do you have naloxone (a.k.a. Narcan) in your first aid kit?
Naloxone is given when opioid overdose happens or has possibly happened. It can reverse an overdose & provide crucial time for emergency medical responders to arrive to render further aid.
Access the order forms here in English or Spanish. Visit the PHRA website for more information, training, FAQ's, and how to order.
Overdose Resources
Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute (ADAI) provides a website on responding to and preventing opioid overdose (StopOverdose.org). They have released two new youth-focused resource pages:
Facts, tips, and info for young people on opioid overdose.
Strategies for schools to reduce overdose deaths and access naloxone.
StopOverdose.org provides resources, education, training videos, and technical assistance for individuals, professionals, and communities in Washington State who want to learn to prevent and respond to overdose, and improve the health of people who use drugs.
Summer Bucket List
Providing teens and young adults with healthy alternatives is a proven way to help prevent substance use. Therefore, we proudly re-share an infographic created in 2021 by La Center United Coalition titled, "100 Ways to Celebrate Summer - Inspiring Hope Summer Bucket List." We hope this infographic will inspire coalitions, community members, youth and families to have a safe and healthy summer!
Implicit Bias Training - Discovering and Overcoming Your Unconscious Bias
Do You Really Know the Community You Serve?
This workshop has break-out groups, class participation, and activities to challenge yourself to replace those old, preconceived thoughts and feelings, thereby creating new habits to serve your community more effectively. Valuable for coalition coordinators and community leaders. Lunch and refreshments provided!
Where: In-Person - ESD 112 Conference Center, 2500 NE 65th Ave, Vancouver, WA
When: Friday, June 10, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST
Cost: Free!
Registration: Registration required. Click here to register.
More Information: email Jesse Jimenez (jesse.jimenez@esd112.org)
Have you heard about Locks Save Lives?
Do you know a home builder, developer, property manager, landlord, or real estate professional who would like to invest in saving lives? Become a trailblazer and make a huge impact in your community by asking people in the housing and rental industries to invest in saving lives by equipping the homes they build, manage, or sell with a locking cabinet or permanent lock box so families have a safe and secure place to store medications.
Medications stored in a locked location is the single most effective deterrent to preventing accidental ingestion, overdose and misuse that can lead to prescription drug addiction. Act now and start saving lives today!
Two Easy Ways To Dispose of Unwanted or Expired Medicines in SW Washington
As of May 13, 2022, Inmar Intelligence an experienced drug stewardship operator and regulatory company has received approval for Washington’s Safe Medication Return program. Inmar is joining the MED-Project as the second provider of medicine disposal kiosks under the Washington’s Safe Medication Return program. State residents will soon gain access to the benefits of Inmar’s consumer drug take-back initiative, helping to fight drug misuse and abuse, accidental poisonings, and environmental damage through proper disposal options for unused medication.
MED-Project and Inmar medicine disposal kiosks can be installed for free at pharmacies or law enforcement agencies throughout Washington State, making it easy and accessible for consumers to dispose of unused, expired, and unwanted medications at no cost to them. Disposing of medications at a take-back program helps to keep these potentially dangerous substances out of the environment and our drinking water.
For more information about MED-Project kiosks or mail-back disposal program, visit www.med-project.org or call 1-844-MED-PROJECT (1-800-633-776-5328).
Women and Weed
Topics include potency and routes of administration, perception of risk, common exchanges regarding substance use and women’s issues, information about popular products marketed to women, and campaigns targeted to individuals who identify as female. It also reviews public health concerns including child protective services, health concerns of use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as the influence on self and family and how to have an intelligent “cannabis conversation.”
Upcoming Webinar Focused on LGBTQ+ and Tobacco Use
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality are hosting an upcoming webinar "LGBTQ+ Tobacco Use: New Trends, Treatment Tips, & Resources" that will present major trends in LGBTQ+ communities that impact tobacco use, strategies to help serve LGBTQ+ people, resources that can help, and also information about GLMA and the resources they provide.
Where: Virtual
When: Tuesday, June 14, 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PDT
Speaker: Scout (MA, PhD) Executive Director, National LGBT Cancer Network
Registration: Click here to register!
Tobacco-free Toolkit for Behavioral Health Agencies
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) produced a new toolkit for behavioral health agencies adopting a tobacco-free wellness policy for their facilities and campuses. It serves as a resource on tobacco use among the behavioral health population, as well as a step-by-step guide to becoming a tobacco-free facility and treating tobacco use in clients and staff. It also suggests ways of incorporating a larger program of wellness that not only supports smoking cessation, but improves overall the mental, emotional, physical, occupational, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of one’s life.
National Suicide Hotline
Visit SAMHSA's 988 information website for a communication toolkit, FAQ's, and more.
Be Prepared to Have the Difficult Conversation
Take Action to Prevent Underage Alcohol Use
This Spanish language data visualization illustrates the steady decline of alcohol use amongst adolescents, informing parents/guardians and communities that taking action against underage drinking is effective.
Getting Ahead of a Problem
This Spanish language data visualization illustrates the drinking habits of adolescents to inform parents/guardians and communities.
Tips for Teens: The Truth About Alcohol
This Spanish language fact sheet for teens provides facts about alcohol. It describes short- and long-term effects and helps dispel common myths. It also can be used by prevention professionals, educators, health care providers, and others who come in contact with teens on a regular basis.
Talking With Your Young Adult about Underage Drinking
Registration Open: Rural Prevention Conference
“Connection & New Beginnings”
Prevent Coalition and the Rural Network are hosting this in-person gathering of rural prevention professionals, educators, and passionate volunteers. The Rural Prevention Conference will bring together and engage people focused on issues of great importance to rural communities.
Experience two days of learning, networking, and solution building. Get an overview or take a deep dive into all aspects of rural prevention with an opportunity to share, learn, and discover new strategies to better engage rural communities and partner with them more effectively. This conference is designed for community leaders, residents, and professionals who seek to create a stronger Washington State.
Where: In-Person - Yakima Convention Center, 10 N 8th St, Yakima, WA 98901
When: Thursday, September 22, 2022 from 12 – 4 p.m.
& Friday, September 23, 2022 from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Event Website: Click here to visit event website
Registration: Click here to register
Flyer: Click here to download.
More Information: Email preventcoalition@esd112.org.
Welcome Brisa Sanchez to Steering Committee!
Brisa Sanchez
Community Prevention Specialist
Location: Royal City, WA
Organization: Royal School District
Sector: Prevention
Quote: “I’ve been involved in prevention since 2017 and fell in love with the varied nature of the work. Leadership, organizational development, and effective community projects are big passions for me and I look forward to expanding my skills and knowledge in these areas alongside the Rural Network.”
Rural Grant Progress
- Evaluation: Click here to take the annual evaluation survey for the Rural Network.
- Outcomes: We're compiling our annual outcomes for the year. They will be live one our website once they are finalized.
- Conference: Registration is open! We will update the agenda as we get confirmation from key speakers. Click here to access.
- Training: Thank you for attending the Cultural Competency for Rural Communities training series. Access materials and minutes at the culture web page.
- Recruitment: Welcome to the Rural Network! In 2021-22, we gained 40 new members.
- Steering: Welcome Brisa Sanchez to the Steering Committee!
- Toolkit: We're hosting a workgroup meeting in June to discuss adding rural elements to the Find Your Good campaign.
- Photo Toolkit: Published! You may still submit more photos.
- Story Toolkit: Published! You may still submit more stories.
Two Opportunities Available for SAPST
Grounded in current research and SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), the Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training (SAPST) provides foundational knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective, data-driven prevention interventions that improve substance-related outcomes, reduce behavioral health disparities, and improve wellness.
The Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network is offering this innovative training in a virtual format that blends a pre-requisite self-paced online course with a combination of live interactive sessions. Individual homework assignments will be completed before and between the live sessions.
Offered Twice:
Option 1: July 11, 14, 18 and 21, 2022
Details: Click here for July session application and details.
Registration Deadline June 27, 2022
Option 2: September 12, 15, 19, and 22, 2022
Details: Click here for September session application and details.
Registration Deadline August 22, 2022
Region 10 Opioid Summit
The Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) Opioid Summit is an opportunity for professionals from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Indian Nations, urban Indian health programs, and recognized American Indian organizations to meet and explore ways to address the opioid crisis. This event will be held virtually.
Where: Virtual
When: August 3-4, 2022
Cost: Free!
Registration Deadline: 5 p.m. on July 22, 2022. Click here to visit the registration website.
More Information: https://region10opioidsummit.org/
2022 National Prevention Network Annual Conference
This year's conference theme, "The Power of HOPE: Healthy Opportunities for Prevention to Empower Change."
Where: Virtual
When: August 23-25, 2022
Registration Deadline: Early bird registration ends July 15th
More Information: http://npnconference.org
Cannabis Action Conference, Sept. 20-21
Where: Virtual
When: September 20-21, 2022
Registration Deadline: Earlybird registration ends September 1st.
More Information: https://www.ph-mjsummit.com
2022 Prevention Summit
The Prevention Summit is an enriching training and networking opportunity for youth, volunteers, and professionals engaged in health promotion and the prevention of substance misuse, violence, and other high-risk behaviors, in a setting that promotes cultural humility. The 2022 is still under development. More information will be available in future newsletters, or visit the event website for updates.
Where: Virtual and in-person - Yakima, WA
When: November 8-9, 2022
Registration: Not yet open (as of June 5, 2002)
More Information: Visit event webpage (preventionsummit.org)
Connection is the Best Prevention
Supported by the fiscal agent ESD 112, Prevent is a regional coalition formed in 2003 to increase collaboration, awareness, and reduce youth substance use in Southwest Washington. Prevent also implements initiatives for rural communities across Washington state. As a community mobilizer, the coalition creates a culture promoting healthy choices; advocates for policies and regulations that protect, empowers and nurtures youth; and facilitates positive opportunities for youth to be involved and thrive.