SAY YES TO TEEN DRUG PREVENTION

Today, one person will likely die of a drug-related overdose
somewhere in our state. A family is gathering to visit a loved one in
prison on a drug charge. A new name is placed on a waiting list for a
treatment program. A parent is having their parental rights
terminated because of their untreated addiction. And tonight, a
teenager at a party will have to make a decision: do I or don't I?

And today, community members and experts from around the state and
the country are sharing and learning about effective drug education
at "Building Positive Communities: A Public Health Approach to Teen
Methamphetamine Prevention."

The conference, organized by the Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico and
its partners, will wrap up today after providing current data,
research and reality-based strategies for effective youth
substance-abuse prevention programs to hundreds of attendees.

None of the programs being discussed cost millions of dollars. What
is required is time and energy from community members, a focus on
data and innovative programming, and a desire to build positive
communities for our youth.

Several communities around New Mexico are implementing this approach
already with great success and will be presenting their results at
the conference. As a state, it's time to come together and take a
hard look at how our communities handle substance abuse among our youth.

Honest, reality-based drug education is one part of the solution, and
building relationships with our youth is paramount. For too long we
have relied on a "just say no" approach which oversimplifies the
complex lives our teenagers lead. Or worse yet, we have tried to
terrify our youth with grotesquely embellished tales of addiction and abuse.

There's no need to exaggerate the difficulties that substance abuse
can bring-just ask a young person whose parent has struggled with
addiction. We can be honest with our youth without undermining their
trust in us.

And if a young person develops an addiction problem or is caught
using drugs, too many schools rely on punitive consequences such as
exclusion from extracurricular activities, suspensions and
expulsions. Without the structure of school and extracurricular
programs, these high-risk youth may be left unattended and without
any meaningful activities. This in turn can lead to more risky behavior.

When a young person has a problem with alcohol or other drugs,
counseling and treatment should be our first resort. And restorative
justice policies, which create structured opportunities for students
to make amends, ensure that students who break rules do take
responsibility but still remain part of the school community. We need
to keep our youth in school to ensure their success in both their
professional and their personal lives.

This conference is just the first component of the Drug Policy
Alliance Meth Project. A social marketing campaign and regional
training will roll out over the coming months.

Hundreds of New Mexicans are joining together to talk about
methamphetamine because we care about our youth, and because we know
that we can do better for them. We recognize that by collaborating
and learning from our own communities, we can ensure that tomorrow is
better than today for our youth struggling with issues related to
substance abuse.