Drugs and alcohol can cause harrowing accidents, causing firefighters to have to extricate a drunken driver from a mangled car or paramedics to have to act swiftly to revive an overdose victim.
That’s why parents worry about their children’s exposure to alcohol and drugs. That’s why the community pulls together to protect kids and teens from substance abuse with an annual Drug Free Fair.
Cranbury Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Michael Kervan said the volunteer firefighters like to be involved in the fair because they see accidents happen all of the time due to drinking and driving.
”That’s why we brought this extraction equipment and the message that driving under the influence is not a safe thing to do,” Chief Kervan said.
Captain John Nichols, of the Cranbury First Aid Squad, was trying to recruit volunteers during the fair to provide young adults with a meaningful pastime.
The fair was all about giving kids and teens ideas for things to do other than using drugs and alcohol. Families could find out information about fitness programs, ping-pong, music classes, martial arts, wrestling, hairstyling, chess, yoga and massage. There were fun activities available such as a soccer shoot out, a bungee run, henna painting, 30-second speed games, raffles, plush pig racing, iSafety games and selfie shoots.
As families meandered through the maze of games and activities, they learned hard truths such as alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States, more than tobacco and illicit drugs, and is responsible for more than 4,300 annual deaths among underage youth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Also popular among teens is the use of e-cigarettes, which was measured for the first time in 2014. Use of e-cigarettes was reported by 8.7 percent of eighth-graders, 16.2 percent of tenth-graders, and 17.1 percent of twelfth-graders, with only 14.2 percent of twelfth-graders viewing regular e-cigarette use as harmful, according to The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s “2014 Monitoring the Future” survey.
As for marijuana, 21.2 percent of high school seniors reported using marijuana in the 2014 survey as did 6.5 percent of eighth-graders and 16.6 percent of tenth-graders, according to the “2014 Monitoring the Future” survey.
Past-year use of narcotics other than heroin (which includes all opioid pain relievers) among high school seniors dropped from 7.1 percent in 2013 to 6.1 percent in 2014. Past-year non-medical use of the stimulants Adderall and Ritalin (often prescribed for ADHD) remained relatively steady in 2014, at 6.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively for high school seniors. The survey continues to show that most teens get these medicines from friends or relatives; a smaller percentage misuse or abuse pills that had been prescribed for them for a medical problem.
Past-year use of MDMA (also known as ecstasy or “Molly”) saw a significant decline among tenth-graders to 2.3 percent in 2014, from 3.6 percent in 2013 and 6.2 percent in 2001, when it peaked. Past-year use of heroin remained very low in all three grades despite increased use among adults over 26 years of age in 2013, according to the survey.
There has also been a considerable decline in past-year use of synthetic cannabinoids (“K2/Spice,” sometimes misleadingly called “synthetic marijuana”) in the two years the survey has been tracking their use. Only 5.8 percent of twelfth-graders reported using K2/Spice in 2014, compared to 7.9 percent in 2013 and 11.3 percent in 2012. This was associated with an increase in the perceived risk of taking synthetic marijuana once or twice among twelfth-graders. Use of the hallucinogen salvia also dropped significantly among twelfth-graders in 2014 to 1.8 percent, from 3.4 percent in 2013, according to the survey.
Another harmful synthetic drug, bath salts (synthetic stimulants), was added to the survey in 2012; past-year use of bath salts remained low in 2014, and dropped considerably among eighth-graders, to 0.5 percent, compared to 1 percent in 2013.
The Cranbury Municipal Alliance Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse hosts the annual Drug Free Fair. The mission of the fair is to extend the health education of the students of Cranbury School beyond the classroom and into the larger community by providing them with a social and educational opportunity to engage in activities and dialogue about healthy, safe a drug free living.
The alliance dispensed literature on how to safely dispose of prescription medication, with the nearest “Project Medicine Drop Box” located in the West Windsor Police Department at 20 Municipal Drive in West Windsor. Take-aways also included a pamphlet on how to influence a child’s behavior by being a good role model, being aware of risk factors, being prepared to discuss drugs and alcohol and working with schools, communities and civic leaders to protect children from alcohol and drug abuse.
”The Drug Free Fair brings the community out together,” Kathleen Argiriou, who coordinated the fair with Rikki Bobchin, said. “We try to provide alternative lifestyles to drug and alcohol abuse and show the risks of drugs and alcohol. We aim to raise awareness.”
Ms. Argiriou also noted that this is the first time the fair did not have a chairperson.
”It really needs a chairperson to keep it going,” she said.
The Cranbury Municipal Alliance Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse meets monthly from September to June on the third Wednesday of the month at 8 a.m. in the library. Anyone interested in joining the committee should contact Kathleen Argiriou at [email protected].
