Jersey County Against Drugs For Jersey County to be a healthy community that encourages and promotes drug free youth. JCAD NEWS September/October 2013 New Coalition Meeting Schedule The new schedule for JCAD meetings was set at the August 27 th meeting. Meetings will be on the third Monday of the month. If the third Monday falls on a holiday, the meeting will be moved to the second Monday. The time for the meetings is 1:30 PM and will be at Jersey County Health Department unless otherwise indicated. The dates for meetings for the grant year are: November 18, 2013; January 13, 2014; March 17, 2014; May 19, 2014; and July 21, 2014. Please mark your calendars. The JCAD NEWS will be sent to Coalition members and others between regular meetings. Program updates, meeting minutes and other items will be included in the newsletter for review prior to regular meeting dates. A meeting reminder will be sent with a tentative agenda two weeks prior to the meeting. Project ALERT Project ALERT classes began August 28 th in the 7 th grade art classes at Illini Middle School. Jennifer Rogers has been presenting the program to 37 students in two classes. Project ALERT in 7 th grade consists of 11 lessons presented one to two times a week. The subjects of the lessons are: Lesson 1 Introduction to Project ALERT Lesson 2 - Consequences of Smoking Cigarettes and Marijuana Lesson 3 Drinking Consequences and Alternatives Lesson 4 Introduction to Pressures Lesson 5 Social Pressures to Use Drugs Lesson 6 Resisting Internal and External Pressures to Use Drugs Lesson 7 Practicing Resistance Skills Lesson 8 Inhalant Abuse Lesson 9 Review and Practice Resistance Techniques 1
Lesson 10 Smoking Cessation Lesson 11 Benefits of Not Using Drugs The classes for the first quarter will continue until October 17. Second quarter classes begin October 21, third quarter classes begin January 6 and fourth quarter classes begin March 17. The Project ALERT lesson plans and videos are available for review at www.projectalert.com. Red Ribbon Week and Character Counts! Week Substance abuse prevention education and promoting good character are cornerstones for building a drug free Jersey County. In October, two national observances eclipse each other, Red Ribbon Week October 23-31 st and Character Counts! Week October 20-26. The first national observance of Red Ribbon Week was in 1988. The red ribbon was chosen to symbolize intolerance towards the use of drugs. Each year a theme is chosen and this year s theme is A Healthy Me Is Drug Free. Character Counts! Week promotes the six pillars of character trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. The Week has been promoted for at least 20 years. Showing good character is a daily practice and is related to prevention of harmful behavior such as drug use. As we continue with prevention education, whether it is Project ALERT or another program, let s not forget to encourage good character, to recognize and reward acts of good character and to Just Be Jersey. Share the JCAD News Please forward this newsletter to other agencies, individuals or groups interested in preventing youth substance abuse. The more people who know about the Jersey County Against Drugs coalition the better. Check out JCAD s Facebook page, too. JCAD T-Shirts Are Available You can order a JCAD t-shirt for $10. The color choices are powder blue, hot pink, bright orange, bright yellow and bright green. Contact Jennifer Rogers at the JCH Wellness Center (618-498-3500) or Lynn Welling (618-498-9565, ext. 334) for more information. 2
JCAD Coalition Meeting Minutes August 27 th (The minutes will be presented at the November 18 th meeting for approval.) The meeting was called to order at 1:30 PM. In attendance were: Kathy Schultz, Oasis Women s Center; Jennifer Rogers, JCH Wellness Center; Janette Heath, WellSpring Resources; Bonnie Hindelang, Jerseyville CASA; Cory Breden, Illini Middle School; and Lynn Welling, Christine Smith, Becky Shipley and Melissa Freand, JCHD. Meeting Schedule After a brief discussion it was decided to change meetings to Mondays since most Project ALERT programs will be presented on Tuesdays. The meetings will be on the third Monday of the month. If the third Monday falls on a holiday, the meeting will be on the second Monday. Meeting times will be at 1:30 PM. There will be 6 meetings planned for this grant year August, November, January, March, May, and July. During the alternate months, a newsletter will be sent to coalition members with updates on coalition activities, meeting notices and prevention information. The coalition meetings will be held at Jersey County Health Department. Following are the dates for the remaining JCAD coalition meetings for the grant year: November 18, 2013; January 13, 2014; March 17, 2014; May 19, 2014; and July 21, 2014. Project ALERT Jennifer Rogers, the Project ALERT facilitator, gave a brief description of the program and how the classes will work. Both Jennifer and Lynn Welling have met Christy Vice, the teacher who is helping with the program. They both feel the program will go well with Mrs. Vice s help and appreciated Mr. Breden s help with getting the program started. A discussion was held on providing incentives to students for bringing in homework assignments. This will be discussed with Mrs. Vice. Rotary Grant JCAD received $300 from the Jerseyville Rotary to promote good character with the Project ALERT program. Book bag tags were suggested as incentives for students. There are tags available that say I show good character by being drug free. A final report on how the funds were used to promote character during the Project ALERT program will be provided. Media Plan/JCAD Brochure A sample brochure telling about JCAD was reviewed for content. It was suggested having the 7 th grade art students come up with ideas to produce a brochure since they will be doing some graphic design activities. The current brochure has some information about JCAD and is useful but having one explaining the organization and its goals would be helpful. A copy of a media plan from another coalition was shown to the group. Having a media plan for the next year would make it clear to all what activities and observances JCAD will be involved in. The media plan will be provided for review in the newsletter. By-Laws Establishing by-laws for the coalition is included in the plan for coalition development to be completed in this grant year. A rough draft of by-laws has been put together. Jennifer Rogers will be reviewing it. The bylaws draft will be included in the newsletter for the membership to review before the by-laws will be voted on. Next Meeting The next meeting is November 18, 2013 at 1:30 PM at the Jersey County Health Department. 3
October is National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month Dispose of unused prescription and over-the-counter medications properly. Unused medications can be dropped off at the Jerseyville Police Department during regular business hours. Medications should be in their original containers. Medications can also be disposed of at home by taking the medication out of the original container, emptying the contents into a water tight container or plastic bag and mixing them with used coffee grounds or cat litter. This mixture should then be sealed to prevent leakage before being placed in the garbage. Before disposing of the medication containers all identifying information should be removed or made unreadable to protect your identity. (Source: FDA Consumer Updates, How to Dispose of Unused Medicines) E-Cigarette Use By Middle and High School Students The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) released a report September 6 on the use of e-cigarettes by middle and high school students in the U.S. The article indicates there is an increase in e-cigarette use in this population. This does not mean middle and high school students are giving up conventional cigarettes. In fact most youth in this group are using both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes. To read the whole report go to www.cdc.gov/mmwr. The title is Notes from the Field: Electronic Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students United States, 2011-2012. On September 9, Governor Quinn signed a law prohibiting sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under age 18. The law goes into effect January 1, 2014. Medical Marijuana and How It Will Affect Your Community At the IDHS SAPP annual meeting on September 12, information was provided by Educating Voices, Inc. for Illinois Partners Providing Marijuana Education 2013 on how medical marijuana is projected to affect Illinois. The projections were based on the law and on the experiences of other states. The negative effects and unintended consequences of medical marijuana use are disturbing especially when it comes to keeping marijuana out of the hands of youth and preventing injury. One example they give is: Your community will see an increase in youth addiction, school failures, behavioral problems, drugged driving, drug dealing, and mental illness and in the need for more treatment facilities. A complete copy of these projections will be available at the next meeting or you can contact Lynn Welling (618-498- 9565, ext. 334 or jchdhealth@gtec.com) for a copy. 4
JCAD Mission Statement Jersey County Against Drugs coalition is committed to make a positive difference in youth 11-18 years old and their families in Jersey County by identifying and implementing evidence-based substance abuse prevention services with a focus on prevention of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use in cooperation with local schools, law enforcement, government agencies and with the community as a whole. 5