Parents play a major role in their children’s choices about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. In a National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University survey to parents and teens, one-third of teen partygoers have been to parties (prom and graduation included) where teens were drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, or using cocaine, ecstasy […]
National Prevention Week is an annual health observance dedicated to increasing the prevention of substance use and promotion of mental health. The observance brings individuals, organizations, coalitions, states, and communities together to raise awareness about the importance of preventing substance use and mental disorders. National Prevention Week takes place May 15–19, 2017. Near the kickoff […]
Ever wonder what happens when someone overdoses on drugs or alcohol? At Save A Life, Casey Forde, MSN RN, and Justin Costable, Manager of Emergency Services at NY Presbyterian/Hudson Valley Hospital, will educate teens about the signs and symptoms of drug and alcohol abuse and overdose so that they have the tools they need to […]
Save A Life Workshop: Understanding the Heroin Epidemic The personal tragedies that families have suffered due to the increase in opiate overdoses continues to rise. In 2016 there were 47,000 deaths due to drug overdoses. Attendees will hear a family’s personal story, and a young person’s journey through addiction and into recovery. The cause of […]
By Holly V. Kapherr If young adults use alcohol before age 15, their risk for alcohol dependence or abuse is six times greater than if they started at 21, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When you find out your teen or a teen you love has fallen prey to addiction to […]
Curiosity killed the cat, as the saying goes. A key component of the adolescent experience involves exploring consciousness and experimenting with mood-alteration. While not all teens turn to substances to do this, teenage experimentation is a common and developmentally normal part of this life stage. In addition, teens share information at a rate that would […]
#DidYouKnow that the United States represents 5% of the world’s population, yet are home to 75% of prescription drugs in the world? Add to that startling statistic that 60% of teens who abuse prescription drugs, get them from friends or relatives. The Alliance for Safe Kids has partnered with the Yorktown Police Department to have a permanent […]
Teenagers from the Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) have joined forces with other teens and scientists across the United States as part of “National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week” (NDAFW). The week-long health observance, organized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), both part […]
As the new year approaches, we have a unique opportunity to pause and reflect on the many gifts that we have received in life, express our grateful appreciation and remember our obligation to the community: to promote awareness and prevention of substance use/abuse and other destructive behaviors damaging to our youth. It takes courage, determination and […]
On November 1, 2016, the Yorktown Police Department (YPD) disposed of 154 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs collected through the Prescription Drug Disposal Unit. Since ASK partnered with the YPD on this initiative in May 2012, we have collected and disposed of 2,622 lbs of drugs – that is averaging out to be 49lbs […]