Scores of Volunteers Strike Back at Drug Abuse and Addiction
Antonella Antonecchia | 22.09.2009 18:01
The abuse of illicit and prescription drugs endangers lives and families across America, but there are some who feel that it’s urgently important to strike back at the problem.
This past weekend, September 18-20 2009, more than seventy volunteers organized by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World hit the streets at Clearwater Beach, in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Ybor City and Ocala with anti-drug educational brochures. The booklets they handed out, titled The Truth About Drugs, educate young and old alike on the dangers and addictiveness of illicit and prescription drugs.
“When a young person is offered a drug by a friend of acquaintance, they may hear how cool it is or how much fun they’ll have when they are high,” said Julieta Santagostino, the Director of the local chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. “They may never hear about the dangers, how easy it is to become addicted to many of these drugs, how easy it is to overdose, until it is too late”.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, young volunteers (and some not so young) wearing distinctive turquoise t-shirts crisscrossed the urban and beach landscapes, handing out booklets with a smile and an answer to questions about drugs or their organization.
In all, more than 8000 booklets were given out.
“More than a million Floridians use an illicit drug or abuse a prescription drug each month. Cocaine users number 350,000 in our state and more than twice that number abuse pain relievers” added Julieta. “In order to drive those numbers down, we need to bring home the message that drug abuse can result in addiction, imprisonment or even death. Our goal is to create a drug-free world. Giving out free information like this is one of the ways we want to help people make better choices.”
The Drug-Free World Foundation provides multimedia materials and copies of these informational booklets to assist individuals and groups with these activities. You can find these materials free of charge by visiting their website at www.drugfreeworld.org.
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction. Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75% (www.narconon.org).
“When a young person is offered a drug by a friend of acquaintance, they may hear how cool it is or how much fun they’ll have when they are high,” said Julieta Santagostino, the Director of the local chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. “They may never hear about the dangers, how easy it is to become addicted to many of these drugs, how easy it is to overdose, until it is too late”.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, young volunteers (and some not so young) wearing distinctive turquoise t-shirts crisscrossed the urban and beach landscapes, handing out booklets with a smile and an answer to questions about drugs or their organization.
In all, more than 8000 booklets were given out.
“More than a million Floridians use an illicit drug or abuse a prescription drug each month. Cocaine users number 350,000 in our state and more than twice that number abuse pain relievers” added Julieta. “In order to drive those numbers down, we need to bring home the message that drug abuse can result in addiction, imprisonment or even death. Our goal is to create a drug-free world. Giving out free information like this is one of the ways we want to help people make better choices.”
The Drug-Free World Foundation provides multimedia materials and copies of these informational booklets to assist individuals and groups with these activities. You can find these materials free of charge by visiting their website at www.drugfreeworld.org.
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction. Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75% (www.narconon.org).
Antonella Antonecchia