Addiction Blog

Red Ribbon Week 2012 runs from October 23 – 31. I’ve talked about Red Ribbon Week several times in the past starting in 2007. Last year there was a contest in which students could win an iPad2 for themselves and $1,000 for their schools.

There is another contest this year held by the National Family Partnership. The prize is nearly the same as a student can win an iPad (upgrade from the iPad2 of last year) for themselves and $1,000 for their K-12 school. Contest details are on the Red Ribbon Blog.

Red Ribbon Week was inspired after the 1985 kidnapping, torturing and killing of a DEA agent named Enrique Camarena. This horrible event happened in Guadalajara, Mexico where Camarena spent four years dealing with drug cartels.

Residents of Camarena’s hometown in California wore red ribbons after this event and this has since become a symbol of drug prevention in order to cut down on these types of crimes.

There is a new addiction website online with a wonderful idea behind it. And that idea is to use the strategies of “addiction heroes” (those people who have at least one year of sobriety) to help others struggling with alcohol, drugs or other addictions.

According to CBS News, “Those … who have turned around their addictions to alcohol, drugs and other abusive behavior for at least one year are being asked to share their strategies with researchers as part of the National Quit & Recovery Registry. Using social media and other tools, the registry is gathering the lessons of people who have quit tobacco or have been in recovery for addictions that also include gambling, overeating and excessive sexual activity.

“It started in October by the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke. Warren Bickel, director of the Advanced Recovery Research Center at the institute, said the first-of-its-kind registry will shine a light on the recovery process through the unique experiences of those who have shed their addictions.”

According to the National Quit and Recovery Registry (NQRR) no one has yet to catalog the positive strategies that work for people to kick their addictions. And, the good news is that this online resource is available to anyone wanting to break their addiction or learn more about how to break free.

“It’s up to me to be drug free” is the new slogan for this year’s Red Ribbon Week, October 23 – 31, 2011. Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest drug prevention program reaching out to students K-12 in schools across the US.

The National Family Partnership (NFP) is running a contest where students who enter can will an iPad2 for themselves and $1,000 for their schools if they win. According to the press release, “Students (K-12) can enter by decorating their homes together with their parents – mailboxes, front doors or fences. Parents (18 or older) can upload photos to www.redribbon.org/enter or www.facebook.com/RedRibbonWeek , and then friends and family can vote for their entry, November 1-15. (In Florida, the contest links are www.informedfamilies.org/contest and www.facebook.com/informedfamilies .) The entries with most votes will win.”

SAMHSA or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (which we recommend on our resources page for those seeking help) is co-sponsoring the event this year. So, if you’re already wearing a pink ribbon for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, then put a red ribbon right beside it for Red Ribbon Week. Or just wear the red ribbon to show your support for this cause.

Last year I had talked about Red Ribbon Week 2010 as well, so check it out to see how it compares to this year’s event.

I received in interesting email about some video of drug addicts and alcoholics telling their personal testimonies. Some of the videos and stories are quite compelling.

I recommend if you start watching the videos that you start with:

“Recovering Heroin Addict – Episode 1: John’s Story”

Heroin has often been dubbed as one of the most destructive and painful drug addictions known to man. The difficulty in kicking the habit comes in the forms of severe relapse, grueling withdrawal symptoms, and even death. Meet John, a former addict that tells his side of the story and explains the lengths he went to get his next high.

If you have some feedback after watching the addiction videos, then please post it here.

Red Ribbon Week is typically held the last week of October every year. This year Red Ribbon Week is being held October 25 – 29, 2010 and there are many schools across the country acknowledging this.

The history of Red Ribbon Week starts with DEA Special Agent Kiki Camarena who was kidnapped in Mexico in 1985. He was tortured and murdered by one of the Mexican drug cartels.

Red Ribbon Week was first practiced at Camarena’s high school in his hometown of Calexico, California. Students and others pledged to live drug free lives and to help others do so as well. Many slogans against drugs have come from Red Ribbon Week.

This year part of the emphasis is on both education of kids and parents. Slogans like “Be aware, don’t share” and “Lock your meds” are being used to call awareness of how easy it is for children and teens to get and abuse adult medications or even prescription medications that each other is using for a specific purpose, such as ADHD.

One of the sad notes is that because of budget cuts Red Ribbon Week will not be part of some communities. This hits especially home for me, as in my hometown in Illinois last year 1,400 students participated and this year none will since Red Ribbon Week has been cancelled.

The good news is that most other schools that participated last year will continue to participate this year and Red Ribbon Week will continue to spread the anti-drugs message.