Now is the Time to Fund Drug Education

Grassroots nonprofits like NOPE need assistance in order to expand innovative and effective anti-drug initiatives in classrooms, workplaces, buses and trains, sports arenas, and many other places.

As a nation, we need to push down the drug overdose rates and to educate the next generation of youths to stay clear of abusing powerful painkillers and anti-anxiety pills. 

How do we do that? One way is through more funding.

In our line of work at NOPE Task Force, we are focused on addressing troubling data like this: In 2010, two million people reported using prescription painkillers non-medically for the first time within a 12-month period – nearly 5,500 a day – many of them teenagers and young adults.

Our communities have to reverse the patterns of how drugs are abused, especially among youths. For instance, most teenagers who abuse prescription drugs get them for free from friends or relatives – often without their knowledge. Many teens abuse medication to get high or because they think drugs will help them with schoolwork.

Grassroots nonprofits like NOPE could use extra public and private funds to expand innovative and effective anti-drug initiatives in classrooms, workplaces, buses and trains, sports arenas, and many other places so many more youths and adults can be reached. We specifically have to connect with more students during school hours so they can be around their peers, teachers and counselors when they learn about the dangers of abusing drugs and the painful outcomes of drug overdoses.

NOPE reaches close to 100,000 students a year through our drug presentations at schools, colleges, and community centers. Our staff and volunteers see first-hand what happens the moment students get the message that drugs can kill: they cry, they seek help, and they vow not to use drugs. It’s very powerful.

NOPE also puts on annual candle light vigils in late October across the nation. These vigils, organized in nearly 50 communities and attended by thousands of people, strive to raise awareness and open the doors to recovery by eliminating the prejudice that follows the disease of addiction.

Our nation is at the crossroads in the fight against prescription pills abuse.

We are turning the corner on this dark chapter by educating the masses about drug abuse. With more funding, though, groups like NOPE can reach many more students and communities and have an even bigger impact on reducing drug usage.

Now is the time to fund drug education programs even more. 

Karen Perry is the executive director of NOPE Task Force.