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Spikes in fentanyl deaths lead the Foundation for a Drug-Free World and its partners to step up drug education efforts

Drug-Free World educational materials

Community member getting free information.

Drug-Free World partners with the Washington, DC, Police Department which launched its summer community outreach program two months early this year

Drug education has been shown to increase individuals’ perception of risk and concurrently decrease usage of drugs in the population and therefore save lives.”
— Thalia Ghiglia, Faith-Liaison, Drug-Free World DC
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, April 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Drug overdoses are sweeping the country according to the DEA, resulting in dozens of deaths. A high percentage of these mass-overdose events are due to drugs laced with fentanyl. In the last few months over 50 overdoses and 29 deaths have occurred in cities from Florida to Colorado and from Missouri to Washington, DC. According to The Washington Post, the DC medical examiner identified fentanyl in more that 90 percent of the overdose deaths from 2020 through March of 2021. Just last week ten people died and seven others overdosed in Northeast Washington, DC, after taking what was suspected to be a bad batch of drugs laced with fentanyl.

While the deaths rise, government agencies and citizens continue to come together to help educate youth and adults alike on the dangers of drugs. In Washington, DC, a program to create better relationships between the police and the community, called Beat the Streets, started its summer program activities two months early this year, adding a spring break series of three community events last week at Potomac Gardens, Hendley Elementary School and the Anacostia Library.

The Foundation for a Drug-Free World, an international drug education program , joins other agencies, service providers and community organizations at these events sharing Truth About Drugs information to help raise quality of life and bring much needed information on the dangers of drugs and drug abuse to those in the community.

Last week in Washington, DC, it was noted that the most popular of the thirteen different drug education booklets available from Drug-Free World were on alcohol, painkillers, marijuana, prescription drugs and synthetics. Ms. Thalia Ghiglia, Drug-Free World’s faith liaison director, commented, “Fentanyl has infiltrated the entire illicit drug supply. It is so powerful and deadly that by the time one thinks something is wrong it may be too late. We must step up our drug education activities across the nation to save lives.”

“Drug-Free World volunteers are joining community activities across the country, sharing factual information about drugs and their effects.” Ms. Ghiglia continued, “Drug education has been shown to increase individuals’ perception of risk and concurrently decrease usage of drugs in the population and therefore save lives. We have to reach people with the truth about drugs before it is too late for them.”

In 2005, the Washington, DC, School Resource Unit of the DC Metropolitan Police Department formed a unique program which enabled police, non-profit organizations, and other agencies to reach deep into the DC neighborhoods to help stop crime and drug abuse. The series of events called Beat the Streets is a time when community members of all ages enjoy musical performances in a street festival-like environment. It is an opportunity for members of the community to get to know members of the police department while enjoying the vendor information tables, music, free food, and fun.

For years the Foundation for a Drug-Free World (DFW) has participated in the Beat the Streets events sharing its drug prevention educational materials with other community participants and citizens in Washington, DC. “I have found working with the police has given us an opportunity to reach deep into our neighborhoods to bring them the truth about drugs. Information is power and empowered individuals become successful and happy individuals and that’s what we want,” concluded Ms. Ghiglia.

The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is an international organization offering its materials in 22 languages though their website: www.drugfreeworld.org. Their drug prevention materials consist of 13 individual booklets, public service announcements videos and a unique documentary film on all of the drugs, plus an educator’s guide. The program addresses how drugs affect a person both physically and mentally, while giving the reader the ability to make their own informed choice.

Thalia Ghiglia
Drug-Free World
+1 202-667-6404
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