 by Marya Tyler June 30, 2004
But it's not over yet. The City Council has given us assurance that they will consider our request. Now it's up to us to show them the importance of ADFY for the schools and the community. We are hoping you will stand beside us this Thursday, July 1st, at 7:00 p.m. at the City Council chambers. We need people to speak their mind and we also need people to sit in the audience and hold a sign (we'll provide them). ADFY has been a force in the community for 20 years. Here's a rundown of what we did this year. Providing Drug Education in the Schools: This year ADFY was able to present 177 classes to 1,100 students in nearly every Borough elementary public school classroom as well as some private schools. . Kayhi A committed group of ADFY students are involved in anti-drug student advocacy-- meeting weekly to plan activities such as our highly successful anti-drug rave held in April, all the while developing their own leadership potential. This year ADFY students created a powerful anti-drug display, videos for display in the commons, and two TV commercials. You may have heard that ADFY students won the 2003 Alaska State Broadcasters "Goldie" award for the top public service announcement (youth or adult) in the State. Providing Drug Education in the Community: We provide a lending library of videotapes and books that have proved valuable to many of our citizens, parents and youth. You no doubt have seen our "Drug Question of the Week", which goes out to all parent school newsletters, the Ketchikan Daily News, and SitNews. With students, we created television anti-drug ads for ESPN and CNN locally. We provided activities and materials for teachers to use in the classroom during Red Ribbon week and throughout the year, including a lab showing the effects of drugs on the human body used by the 8th grade biology teacher. We provide up-to-date information to hospital staff on illicit drug and abuse, as well as collating emergency room statistics on drugs in the community. We are working with community leaders--doctors, pharmacists, and law enforcement professionals as well as RIPC--to develop a Prescription Drug Task Force dedicated to get to the bottom of the explosion in prescription drug abuse in the community. If you see a poster or flier or brochure about drugs, it probably came from this office. Thousands of posters and helpful informational brochures are distributed throughout town yearly. You'll find us at nearly every event-- First City Expo, Health Fair, Blueberry Festival--doing what we can to educate the community about the hazards of drugs. Fourth of July will find ADFY students in a float proclaiming "No Freedom in Drugs". ADFY activities throughout the year acknowledge the benefits of healthy drug-free lifestyle. We frequently counsel parents who want to understand how they can assist their child to stay or become drug-free, and offer forums for open and frank discussion of drug use. We solicited the help of pastors, presenting the latest in drug information at the Ketchikan Ministerial Association, apprising the pastors of the very real dangers of various drugs in popular use today. Weekly, we provide classified ads promoting drug-free living, and warning of the hazards of drugs in the Local Paper and other media sources. In close cooperation with local drug investigators, we promoted Crimestoppers hotline with dollar bill ads offering a reward for tips on dealers. In response to community criticism that the police and courts have been too lenient on marijuana offenders, we presented the real hazards of marijuana to the district attorneys, the public defenders, judge, and Bar Association. For example, did you know marijuana is at least as likely to cause lung cancer as tobacco? Thanks! Marya Tyler
Note: Marya Tyler is an ADFY staff member.
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