I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Prevention

Pinwheels

1

Rx Drop Boxes 2

Marijuana

Conference

3-4

PFS 4

Ad Campaign 5

W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 4

U PCOMING

SC RATCH

MEETINGS :

January 14

February 11

March 11

All meetings are

from 9-10:30am at

Inspira Hospital,

501 W. Front St.,

Elmer NJ 08318 in

the Community

Room on the

2nd Floor

The SCRATCH Post

S C R A T C H I N G O U T S U B S T A N C E A B U S E S I N C E 2 0 1 2

An initiative of The Southwest Council

SCRATCH Coalition Coordinator Cory Gilden

1405 N. Delsea Dr. 856-794-1011, x316

cory@southwestcouncil.org

Cadca

Police chiefs meetings

Marijuana conference

Prevention Pinwheels Project! SCRATCH launches “Pinwheels Prevention

Project” visual display at Salem county schools during Homecoming season

Homecoming season can bring excite-ment and a feeling of school spirit for high school students. Unfortunately, it can also bring some dangerous situations.

Many high school students use large school events like the home-coming football game and homecoming dance as a time to experiment with alcohol.

To remind students of the dangers of underage drinking, members of the SCRATCH coa-lition launched the Prevention Pinwheels Project.

The Prevention Pinwheels Project aims to attract atten-tion to the issue of underage drinking by placing 430 brightly colored pinwheels on the lawns of high schools in Salem County. Each pinwheel rep-resents 10 deaths due to underage drinking each year, totaling 4,300 people, according to

the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion.

Lawn signs explaining the pinwheels ac-companied the display, as well as signs with other statistics about underage drinking on them and a sign reminding students to have a safe homecoming from the SCRATCH Coali-tion and partner organizations.

This past fall, Pennsville Me-morial High School and Wood-stown High School participated in the Prevention Pinwheels Project. Youth from the Lindsey Meyer Teen Institute as well as Pennsville MAPSA members and school ad-ministrators, including the princi-pal and superintendent, came out to post pinwheels in Pennsville, and students from the SADD club and administrators at Woodstown High posted pinwheels in Wood-

stown. Thank you to all the SCRATCH mem-bers who helped set up the displays!

Check out press coverage of the events at: issuu.com/scratchcoalition/stacks

P A G E 2

T H E S C R A T C H P O S T

(Above) Cory Gilden honors Lower Alloways Creek Public Safety Director David Sowers with a certificate of acknowledgment from the SCRATCH Coalition. Mayor Tim Bradway was also there to show his support.

One of the SCRATCH Coalition’s three key objectives is to reduce prescription drug abuse in Salem and Cumberland counties. One way we’ve chosen to move forward with this effort is to establish more se-cure, easily accessible prescription drug drop boxes in police stations in Cumberland and Salem counties.

Cory Gilden, SCRATCH Coalition Coordinator, met with the Salem county police chiefs at their meeting in September to urge them to install prescription drug drop boxes. Doug Collier, retired DEA and Drug Initia-tive Coordinator with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General—Division of Consumer Affairs, ac-companied Cory to the meeting to clarify the process of installing a drop box and to tell about the successes of drop boxes around the state.

Since the meeting, Cory has been approached by the Penns Grove and Carney’s Point police departments to assist in the process of applying for a medicine drop box from Project Medicine Drop.

Currently, Penns Grove and Carney’s Point have completed their paperwork and are on the waiting list to receive a drop box in the next shipment (which will occur hopefully within the next couple of months).

Lower Alloways Creek was the latest police station in Salem county to install a prescription drug drop box. The SCRATCH Coalition honored the police department with a plaque acknowledging the drop box and the

departments continued efforts to help lowering the risk of prescription drugs being abused.

Read more about it at www.issuu.com/scratchcoalition/stacks and click on “SCRATCH in the Media.”

To find a drop box near you, visit: www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/meddrop/locations.htm

Drop Box Installed in LAC Police Station

SCRATCH has a new logo and website! The SCRATCH Coalition is proud to unveil

its new logo! The logo features the original red scratch

icon and the full name and meaning of “SCRATCH.”

Look out for the new logo, which will be used on all future official documents, flyers and marketing items!

And be sure to visit our new website:

www.swccoalitions.org

P A G E 3

The Truth About Marijuana Conference Sheds Light on Potential Legalization Woes Three local substance abuse

prevention coalitions organize efforts to bring Dr. Kevin Sabet to South Jersey

As many voters across the nation debated marijuana legislation on their voting ballots recently, South Jersey residents were given help determining their stance on marijuana at the recent Truth About Marijuana conference.

The Gloucester Regional Addictive Substances Prevention (GRASP) Coalition invited Dr. Kevin Sabet, Director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida and co-founder of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), to speak at the Courtyard by Marriott Glassboro Rowan University last Thursday, Oct. 30. Nearly 120 people attended the conference, which was hosted by the GRASP Coalition, the Salem Cumberland Regional Action Toward Community Health (SCRATCH) Coalition and the Cumberland County Healthy Communities Coalition (CCHCC). All three coalitions are affiliated with the Southwest Council,

Inc., a non-profit agency devoted to the prevention, education and treatment of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, serving Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties. The presentation was done in partnership with Steered Straight Inc., a non-profit organization that offers programs to youth that stress the importance of making good, positive decisions.

Executive Director of the Southwest Council, Joe Williams, welcomed the audience and spoke of the importance of community partnerships in the region in regards to health promotion. “With our organizations working together, we can bring about

positive change in the community and deter potential dangers to the region,” said Williams. Williams introduced Glouces-ter County Prosecutor Sean Dalton, who stressed the importance of drug and alcohol education and prevention. Dr. Sabet, who has worked in drug policy under two presidential administrations, guided the presentation using the points in his book about the legalization of mariju-ana, “Refer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana.” Sabet showcased various scientific studies and current research to support his points. Not strictly anti-marijuana, Sabet shared his agreement that the medicinal qualities of marijuana should be researched and utilized, but that you don’t have to smoke it to reap the benefits. “You don’t smoke opium in the hospital to get the pain relief from opiates, or chew on willow bark to get the pain relief that is available in aspirin,” said Sabet. “You get a controlled dosage from your doctor

continued on page 4...

The Marijuana industry may become like big tobacco,

targeting younger consumers and

promoting addiction

Dr. Kevin Sabet addresses a crowd of more than 120 people at the Courtyard by Marriott Glassboro Rowan University in October.

SCRATCH Coalition member Beth Thomas distributes information at the conference.

P A G E 4

PFS Reaches Out to Local Elderly and Youth

...Truth About Marijuana continued that has been researched and tested in controlled envi-ronments. Why is marijuana different?” Sabet also is supportive of easing penalties for arrests related to small marijuana charges, but noted that a mere .4% of those incarcerated were jailed just for ma-rijuana possession. The vast majority of drug-related ar-rests have other charges such as theft or violent crimes associated with them. Sabet cautioned the audience that legalization of marijuana may lead to another “Big Tobacco” industry that will target younger consumers and promote addic-tion to make business more lucrative. And as statistics have shown us with the two legal substances of alcohol

and tobacco, the legalization of marijuana will end up costing government and society a lot more financially than it will bring in. The speaker also outlined the negative effects of the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, including increased emergency room visits related to ma-rijuana, accidents involving children digesting marijuana products and tax benefits bringing in just a third of con-servative projected numbers. The coalitions hope to feature more speakers like Dr. Kevin Sabet in the future, who will speak to the dan-gers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Partnership for Success (PFS) is an initiative of the SCRATCH Coalition aimed to broaden the scope of the coalition and bolster its efforts. PFS specially targets the elderly, military, parents and youth in its pro-health endeavors.

This fall, Gloria McCoy and Cory Gilden spoke at the Salem County TRIAD meeting for seniors about proper prescription drug safety and disposal. Gloria also tabled at the Vineland and Millville TRIAD meeting, distributing materials about drugs and alcohol. Each meeting had about 200 attendees!

Cory and Gloria also spoke at five different meetings for the Vineland Housing Authority senior groups.

Short presentations were made to the group about prescription drug safety and gifts of prescription pill boxes were given to participants.

Gloria also visited the monthly Senior Support Group at the Family Success Center in Bridgeton to edu-cate about 25 attendees about prop-er prescription drug disposal.

All of the presentations were well received and the seniors loved re-ceiving the brochures and free gifts!

Over the past few months, Gloria has also had speaking engagements with the NJ Youth Corp. Gloria pre-sented to about 20 youth, aged 16 to 21, about underage drinking and pre-scription drug abuse.

The youth were entertained par-

ticipating in the interactive Fatal Vi-sion Goggle presentation, which in-vites participates to complete motor tasks while wearing goggles that sim-ulate the vision of an intoxicated per-son. Youth were asked to walk straight and curved lines and catch various items while wearing the goggles.

Other days with the youth were spent delivering presentations and administering pre- and post-tests to gauge knowledge and attitudes be-fore and after the program.

And finally, Gloria manned a SCRATCH table at a Veterans Out-reach Fair in Carney’s Point to get information out to people affiliated with the military. Great work Gloria!

Gloria McCoy shares information with

residents at a SCRATCH table at the

Salem County TRIAD meeting.

Betty Lamotte of Pennsville (left) and

William Dennis of Salem (right) show off

their new prescription drug lock boxes

won during a SCRATCH raffle at the

Salem County TRIAD meeting.

Students from the NJ Youth Corp try to

walk the line while wearing the Fatal Vision

Goggles.

The SCRATCH Coalition recently launched an underage drinking media campaign centered around the excuses people make for underage drinking. In November and December there will be two bill-boards on display in Cumberland county and two billboards up in Salem county (see below) sharing the tagline of “Underage Drinking: There’s No Ex-cuse.” There will also be an ad in the kiosk at the Cumberland County Mall (left) during those months. The idea of the billboards and kiosks is to raise awareness about the underlying cultural norms that contribute to the sentiment that drinking is a “rite of passage” for teenagers. It’s particularly important to get this mes-sage out during the holiday season, when youth will be turning to adults to see an example for behavior when throwing holiday parties. In addition to displays focused on underage drinking, ads will be running in December and Janu-ary Sunday papers of The South Jersey Times pro-moting the Southwest Council coalitions and inviting people to “Make a Difference” by joining a coalition. SCRATCH will continue its media campaign with billboards in the spring that will highlight the dangers of the legalization of marijuana.

P A G E 5

SCRATCH Launches Anti-Drug Ad Campaign

This is the new mall kiosk, billboard

and newspaper ad that are running

November through December in

Cumberland and Salem counties!