News

Grant will enable more education about drugs

Long Island Council on Drug and Alcohol Dependence receives $10,000 grant

Posted

In January, the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence received a $10,000 grant from the Slomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation, Inc., a Long Beach philanthropic organization.

LICADD is dedicating the funds to the Too Good For Drugs Student Assistance Program. With that grant, the organization will expand educational programs in Long Island schools to raise awareness and educate students and administrators about drug use and abuse.

“[Parents] should know that there is an epidemic going on that is killing off Long Islanders, particularly, adolescents and young people at a record level we’ve never before seen.” said Steve Chassman, the executive director of LICADD. “There was over 370 fatal drug overdoses last year,” he continued, saying that Long Island is suffering from a drug epidemic.

“The Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Drug Abuse have officially declared that every 19 minutes there’s a prescription drug overdose in this country,” Chassman said.

LICADD works to combat drug abuse on Long Island and collaborate with families who have been afflicted by drug addiction and mental illness. With this grant, LICADD can continue to educate students about the use of drugs and alcohol.

In 2014, the representatives of LICADD spoke with more than 30,000 students in 71 schools from Montauk to Elmont. They focus on presenting non-judgmental, evidence-based guidance in healthy decision-making.

Brittany Becker, the community education and prevention specialist at LICADD, works with a team of people to educate students through workshops, lectures and dialogue.

Becker said the workshops are “a safe space for you to get the facts and not feel judged and not feel that you’re going to get in trouble.” Her team focuses on educating a receptive audience. “If you’re going to have to be making a decision that [involves] drugs, at least you have the education behind it to make the right decision for you. No one else can tell you that better than yourself, and so we want to give [students] that power. Knowledge is power.”

Page 1 / 2