Across the country, thousands of teens and young adults are becoming addicted to opioids, heroin, e-cigarettes and vaping products.
It’s been called an epidemic. And one locality is trying to face the issue head on.
The York County Youth Commission along with several other partners including the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, the York County Parent, Teacher Student Association, York County Psychological Substance Abuse Services, Historic Triangle Drug Prevention Coalition and Bacon Street Youth Services, have decided to host a forum Wednesday to educate the public about substance abuse among teens and other risk factors associated with drug use.
The idea to combine awareness regarding opioid abuse and e-cigarettes came together in two stages — the first at a November 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting where Tom Shepperd commented about the nationwide opioid epidemic and recommended getting the York County Youth Commission involved, said Rick Smethurst, liaison for the York County Youth Commission.
One year after Shepperd raised awareness about opioid use among teens, Chad Green, also on the Board of Supervisors, was principal for a day and noticed a lot of e-cigarettes, Juuls and vaping products used by students.
“It’s about the community what we can do to make a difference,” Smethurst said.
So why combine e-cigarettes?
“They are both addictive substances,” said Kim Dellinger, executive director for Bacon Street Youth and Family Services. “From our standpoint, addiction is addiction — and addiction is a disease.”
Smethurst added both substances are illegal for minors and are one of the several risk factors identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do to combine them together,” he said.
It was also a concern shared by students.
“Our job is to make sure their voices are being heard,” Dellinger said. “They know better than adults do about what is going on in their school.”
According to the event’s announcement, the forum focuses on the rise of teenagers using opioids, heroin, e-cigarettes and vapes. There will be presentations by Williams Shackleford, from the Attorney General’s Office, the York-Poquoson’s Sheriff’s Office and a short clip from “Heroin, the Hardest Hit”, a documentary.
The event is free and open to the public and also includes a question and answer portion.
“Most of us believe that York County is a great place to live,” York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs said. “But as in other communities, our youth are not immune from the dangers of substance abuse.”
The Opioid and E-cigarette Community Awareness Forum is at the Grafton High School auditorium, 403 Grafton Drive April 17 at 6:30 p.m.
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Event is on April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, call the York County Parks and Recreation at 757-890-3500.
