Executive
Committee
Subcommittee Chairs
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| From
The President's Desk |
| Meth Tool Kit
Kick-Off Statement |
| This past April 29, Shantel
Vasquez, from Madras, received a phone call that her thirteen year
old daughter had been arrested and was now in the hospital, near death,
from alcohol poisoning. An adult had furnished the young girl with
a fifth of tequila, which she had assumed would be like a wine cooler.
This was a “good” girl from a “good” family from
the “right side of the tracks.” This is what prevention
is about. |
OPERA President Rick Treleavan,
Executive Director, Bestcare Treatment Services |
| In Madras, as in the rest of
Oregon, meth addiction often starts with thirteen year olds at parties
and parents turning a blind eye. In these parties, alcohol, methamphetamines,
and other drugs are readily available, are cool, and help young people
lose weight and feel more confident. One of the first steps to preventing
meth abuse is to prevent underage drinking. This is what prevention
is about. |
| Ms. Vasquez refused to be blind
and decided to get involved. She called a meeting of her neighbors,
the parents of her daughter’s friends, girls who had all been
to parties and had tried drinking. None of the parents came to the
meeting. In frustration, she joined the Jefferson County Prevention
Coalition. |
| In the coalition
she found a group of people determined to engage the community, to
challenge the acceptance of drinking and drugs in our neighborhoods,
to give kids alternatives to “hanging out,” and to support
parents in being more involved in the lives of their children. This
is what prevention is about. |
| As Ms. Vasquez wrote
in a Letter to the Editor in the Madras Pioneer (July 27, 2006): “As
a small community, I recommend that parents, friends, family members
and the community in general band together and attack this problem
head on. Putting your head in the sand doesn’t help. Being in
denial doesn’t help. Education and responsibility start at home.
It needs to continue within the community, too.” This is what
prevention is about! |
| The Meth Tool Kits
give every community coalition in Oregon a professional set of tools
with which to educate and engage their neighbors to build drug free
lives for their children. These coalitions are made up of your neighbors,
citizens concerned about the impact of methamphetamines and other
drugs on their communities. Providing these coalitions a professional
set of tools means that folks in places like Madras do not have to
re-invent the wheel, and that mothers like Ms. Vasquez have the best
possible chance to make a difference. |
| Representing the
private treatment and prevention providers of Oregon, I want to thank
the Governor, the Governor’s Meth Task Force, Oregon Partnership,
and Serenity Lane for making this Tool Kit available. |
Rick Treleaven,
LCSW
President, Oregon Prevention, Education, and Recovery Association
Executive Director, BestCare Treatment Services |
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OPERA
is
a statewide, nonprofit association of private sector and tribal
entities who provide treatment, prevention and training services.
We are dedicated to ending addiction by ensuring the development
and maintenance of the highest quality statewide service systems. |
Mission
OPERA’s mission is to eliminate alcohol and drug problems
and their social, health and behavioral consequences through
use of evidence-based practices; partnerships with public and
private, social and healthcare providers; and advocacy for effective
budget and public policy. |
Vision
We envision a society in which alcohol and drug problems are
recognized as a public health issue that is both preventable
and treatable. We envision a society in which high quality services
for prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug problems are
widely available, and where prevention and treatment are recognized
as specialized fields of expertise. |
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