The Herkimer County Prevention Council a program of Catholic Charities of Herkimer County will be sponsoring the 13th annual Herkimer County Regional Playoffs of the Drug Quiz Show on March 1, 2012, from 9-3 at Herkimer County Community College. Teams comprised of Herkimer County middle school students will competing for the title of “Regional Champions.” All students who compete will receive prizes! Schools that will be competing this year so far are: Dolgeville, Herkimer, Ilion, Mount Markham, and Town of Webb.
The Drug Quiz Show is a game-show competition that reaches over 30,000 middle school students, representing 200 schools statewide. This positive alternative teaches students about alcohol and other drugs, decision-making, violence prevention, grief, self-esteem and stress. The Drug Quiz Show strives to heighten school, home and community substance abuse awareness by providing middle school students with the opportunity to have fun while gaining the knowledge, skills and self-confidence needed to make safe and healthy, real-life choices regarding the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Study materials and the state competition are provided by the Drug Quiz Show a program of the Prevention Network in Syracuse.
After 25 years of providing this program to middle school students across the state, the Drug Quiz Show has lost its major corporate sponsor. We are looking for support for our Herkimer County schools to compete in this year’s competition. If you would like to make a donation to support your local school’s team please contact the Herkimer County Regional Coordinator; Maureen Petrie at 894-9917 ext. 244, or by email at mpetrie@ccherkimer.org. Your support would assist the Herkimer County Prevention Council in maintaining this vital program!
“Pharmageddon”: America’s New Drug Crisis
“Baby Boomers” and Late On-Set Addiction
ba·by-boom·er (bā’bē-bū’mər) n. A member of a baby-boom generation.
Baby Boomers are individuals born post World War II between the years of 1946 and 1964. During that 18 year period there was an explosion of 76 million births. The first boomers born in 1946 are turning 65 this year while the youngest born in 1964 are turning 47. Boomers grew up in the 60’s, a decade of protests and wide-spread use of recreational drugs. Sixties guru, Timothy Leary, advocated, “turn on, tune in, drop out.” And they did. Drugs like LSD, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin were used to help express themselves with psychedelic art and “acid” music. Popular entertainers of the day became alcoholics and addicts. Some survived; some did not.
Yet, for all of the chaos, boomers became adults who followed in the footsteps of the previous generation. They went to work at jobs in companies large and small in the “establishment.” They furthered their education and earned college degrees. They started their own companies. They married and divorced in record numbers. They have raised families who now have families of their own. So “Boomers” are everyman and woman. They are parents, grandparents, coworkers, community leaders- just everyday people.
What isn’t so evident is that this generation of “young old” adults is at the heart of a possible epidemic of late onset addiction. ‘There are several reasons that the “boomer” generation may potentially be home to many more addicts and alcoholics than the rest of the population. Some of these reasons are that the boomers were (1) the first generation to engage in wide-spread recreational use of a variety of addictive drugs (including cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamines); (2) the first generation for which a wide variety of prescription medications and painkillers were readily available; and (3) the last generation for which treatment and recovery were not culturally acceptable. For these and other reasons, some are calling it, “America’s hidden epidemic”.’[1] Continue reading ‘Baby Boomers and Addiction’ »
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