Graduation!

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition continues to see that one of the largest problems facing our community today is the underage use of alcohol.  As graduation time draws near, we encourage all families with high school seniors to not provide alcohol at your graduation parties as the parties are in honor of your student.  Also please take time to discuss the potential dangers that occur when alcohol is available at graduation celebrations or other parties your senior may attend these last days of the school year. They should consider the consequences they could face for consuming alcohol under the legal age.

Underage drinking can have varied consequences for the youth of Van Buren County.  Making the decision to consume alcohol under the age of 21 could take away the chances of receiving financial aid in college.  If convicted of alcohol use, it will be on their permanent record, which is something Federal Aid takes into serious consideration.  They may not be able to practice the following careers in Iowa if convicted as well: accountant, architect, attorney, chiropractor, dentist, engineer, law enforcement, medical doctor, nurse, optometrist, pharmacist, physical therapist, physician assistant, psychologist, real estate broker, court reporter, social reporter, teacher, or veterinarian. 

Most people would never think of violating laws related to drug use, but the community norm regarding the use of alcohol is often thought of differently.  Clear expectations and boundaries are important components of healthy community norms and values.  Positive adult role models also play a significant role in establishing these norms.  While it is legal for adults to consume alcohol, graduation parties are NOT held in honor of adults.  Such celebrations are held in honor of the young person for their achievements and graduation from high school.

Please examine your personal beliefs about alcohol use by young people and the example set by our community during graduation time.  We are hoping you will plan to join the many families who are celebrating their student’s graduation in an alcohol-free environment. Congratulations and best wishes to your high school senior and your entire family on behalf of the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition!

For more information about underage drinking or the SAFE Coalition please feel free to contact the office at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or via email at safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.   If you are interested in what the SAFE Coalition has been doing please check it out on the web: the coalition blog at http://vbsafecoalition.blogspot.com/, the coalition website at http://www.van-buren.k12.ia.us/vnews/display.v/SEC/RESOURCES%7CSAFE%20COALITION, or on Facebook at Van Buren County SAFE Coalition!

2019 Adventureland Tickets

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition has discounted tickets for Adventureland.  The cost per ticket is $25 (a savings of $20 off the regular ticket price).  The tickets are only good for the Substance Free Weekends at Adventureland on April 27^th and April 28^th, or May 4^th and May 5^th, 2018.  These special days are held at Adventureland to increase awareness of Drug Prevention Programs and provide a day of fun as a reward for those that participate in those programs.    

This Substance Free event is a great way to spend a fun-filled day with family and friends.  You may purchase these tickets for your entire family while supplies last.  Admission will not be available at this price at Adventureland during this event.  If you are interested in going to Adventureland on any of these dates please contact the SAFE Coalition by phone at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or by email at safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.  Tickets are available now.  The Substance Free event is a great way to spend a fun-filled day with family and friends. 

Rx Take Back Event April 27, 2019

Want to make a difference in Van Buren County?

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition is continually looking for community members who are interested in making Van Buren County a SAFE place to live.

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition came together originally in 1993, after the floods, as a way to get community members together to work on a specific issue.  This group was organized to assist with flood efforts and clean-up after the flood.  The group met sporadically over the next few years.  It was not until December of 2002 that the group became organized.  There were 11 members at the first organized meeting and the group has now grown to over 60 members. 

The coalition is currently working on strategies to address tobacco prevention, underage drinking and underage binge drinking in Van Buren County with Community Partnership Funds, Community Grants, and the Iowa Partnership for Success Funds. This work requires input from all areas of the community. If you are a parent, business owner, concerned citizen, faith-based representative, young adult, youth worker, youth, or anyone else who wants to make a difference, the coalition needs you. Your input is valuable and we want to hear from you.

If you are interested in finding out more about the coalition or think that you would like to get involved the coalition would love to have you join! Coalition meetings are held on the 3^rd Tuesday of the month at 4:30 pm with light refreshments at 4:15 pm at the VBCH Community Services Center Conference Room in Keosauqua. There is a conference line if you cannot be there in person but would like to call in and participate in the meeting. 

Next Meeting:

May 21, 2019

4:30 pm

VBCH Community Services Center Conference Room

(Hospital Emergency Room Driveway on the Left)

If you are interested in joining but not able to attend or call into the meeting, please contact us at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or via email at safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org and you can be added to our member list.

Check us out on the web for more information: http://www.van-buren.k12.ia.us/vnews/display.v/SEC/RESOURCES%7CSAFE%20COALITION or on the blog at - http://vbsafecoalition.blogspot.com/ or on Facebook at Van Buren County SAFE Coalition. 

Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs April 27, 2019

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public its 17th opportunity in nine years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office at 907 Broad Street, Keosauqua, IA 52565. (Sites cannot accept liquids, inhalers or needles/sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last fall Americans turned in nearly 460 tons (more than 900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and almost 4,800 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 16 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in almost 11 million pounds—nearly 5,500 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 27 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or contact the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.

Kick Butts Day 2019 Combats Youth Nicotine Use

By Rose Rankin

Since when was nicotine part of the curriculum?  AP classes, sports/music practices, college applications, social events, family obligations — middle school and high school students have enough on our plates.

But now we have to deal with Juul? Imagine how hard it is to avoid e-cigarettes when 1 in 5 of our friends are using them. Simply walking into the bathroom—excuse me, the Juul room—is like walking into a Neapolitan haze of vape flavors.

There are well over 15,000 flavors of e-cigarettes and cigars, and studies show that flavors play a major role in tricking youth into using tobacco products — 81 percent of youth e-cigarette users started with a flavored product.

Tobacco and e-cigarette companies know exactly what they are doing. They see kids as their “replacement smokers,” and use flavors to improve the taste, reduce the harshness and make their products more appealing to young beginners. Before they know kids realize it, they have a lifelong addiction.

This has been the story for 3.6 million youth who now use e-cigarettes, including many of my peers. It’s time for U.S. and state lawmakers to ban flavored tobacco products to stop and reverse this epidemic. We hope they will stand with us on Kick Butts Day as we fight for the first tobacco-free generation.

Kick butts day is a national day of youth advocacy sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids that empowers students to stand out, speak up and take control against Big Tobacco. On this day students are encouraged to get together and participate in different activities to make people more aware of the impact tobacco/nicotine has on their surrounding area.

The Van Buren County High School Youth Leadership Council members participated in Kick Butts Day, March 20^th, 2019, by making an informational board that had facts about e-device juices and their similarity to food products. This board was set up in the cafeteria during both high school and middle school lunches for students to see and interact with. Many students were surprised and bothered by what they saw on the board. The group also passed out gum packets and pencils with more tobacco information on them for peers to have when they were done looking at the board.

The Middle School Youth Leadership Council members also participated by making signs about nicotine use and how it affects the users and signs with sayings on them about being tobacco-free and why it is important to not use tobacco. They also held a blackout day for the students and staff to participate in on March 20^th. 

For more information on Kick Butts Day or the Van Buren County Youth Leadership Council please contact the SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.

After Prom 2019

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

By: Kelsey Sample

April is the 33rd Annual Alcohol Awareness Month. Founded and sponsored by Facing Addiction with the NCADD for 33 years. The theme this year is: “Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow.”

No other substance is more widely used by America’s youth than alcohol, making alcoholism and alcohol-related problems the number one public health problem in the United States.

The Van Buren Youth Leadership Council is doing different activities throughout April to promote awareness of the effects of alcohol. One of the things that we will be doing is setting up a table at a Track Meet in April. We will have an Alcohol Fact and Fiction board showing different information about alcohol and the dangers of drinking it underage. Another thing that we are doing in April is “It’s a Colorful World!” Color Run/ Walk and Town Hall on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at the Van Buren County Fairgrounds, Keosauqua. The event starts at 5:00 and there will be food to follow at the Roberts building with Round Table Discussions on Underage Drinking, Vaping, and CBD Oils, Admission to the Run /Walk is $10 and the Town Hall is free.

Some Alcohol Facts from the Alliance of Coalitions for Change (AC4C) are “Young adults aged 25-34 years of age are most likely to binge drink, followed by those aged 18-24 and 35-44 years old.” Another fact is “According to the 2016 Iowa Youth Survey 13% of Iowa’s 11th graders have binge drank in the last 30 days.” Something for you to think about is “For every $1 gained from alcohol and tobacco tax revenues, $10 is lost in legal, health, social, and regulatory costs.”

Underage drinking can damage or crush your dreams, friendships, parents and relatives trust, your life, and many other things. So don’t throw away what you have by drinking underage.

                                 

Addressing this issue requires a sustained and cooperative effort between parents, schools, community leaders, and our youth. The widespread prevalence of underage drinking and the negative consequences it creates remain a stubborn and destructive problem despite decades of efforts to combat it.

Yet, there are four areas that have proven to be effective in the prevention of this problem:

1) Curtailing the availability of alcohol to underage populations;

2) Consistent enforcement of existing laws and regulations regarding alcohol purchase;

3) Changing cultural misconceptions and behaviors about alcohol use through education; and

4) Expanded access to treatment and recovery support for adolescents and their families.

For more information on the Youth Leadership Council or Substance Abuse Prevention work in Van Buren County please contact the SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.  

"Live Above the Influence: Enjoy Life - Add Nothing!" Van Buren County Youth Leadership Council attended the Substance Abuse Prevention Day on the Hill

By: Lacey Smith

On Thursday, February 28^th, the Alliance of Coalitions for Change (AC4C), a state-wide collaboration to affect positive change in substance abuse, met with state legislators to discuss substance abuse problems within Iowa. Students from all over Iowa came to discuss several issues involving underage drinking, vaping, and other substances that are happening in several counties around the state.

Seven of those students were students from the Van Buren County Youth Leadership Council (Christina Leppert, Lacey Smith, Kelsey Sample, Rose Rankin, Shayna Snook, Shelbie Frey, and Sydney Goemaat). While there, they brought up big issues that are in their school.  

One of the main topics that the Van Buren students discussed with their representatives, Senator Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Representative Jeff Shipley, is the high percentage of students in the high school who have vaped. 39% of Van Buren County 11^th graders report that they have used electronic cigarettes at some time in their life on the 2016 Iowa Youth Survey (IYS).

The Van Buren County students also brought many other facts to the state legislators’ attention. Such as: 21% of Iowa 11^th graders report they have used marijuana at some time in their life. Half of those students say they are still currently using marijuana.  (2016 IYS)

For Every $1 gained from alcohol and tobacco tax revenues, $10 is lost in legal, health, social, and regulatory costs.  Raising the minimum age of legal access to tobacco and nicotine products reduces underage use because it reduces peer-to-peer access.

83% of Van Buren County 11^th graders report it is easy or very easy to get alcohol.  (2016 IYS)  These facts helped bring to light the issues within smaller communities within Iowa.

Day on the Hill is very helpful for young people to get involved in making their state and community a safer place not only for themselves but for others as well.

For further information on the Day on Hill event or the Van Buren County Youth Leadership Council, please contact the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.