Dear DFC and CARA Coalition Leaders,

The month of September marks Suicide Prevention Month and National Recovery Month. It’s a time to raise awareness about suicide as a serious public health problem and to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices.

To learn more about strategies to prevent youth substance use and other risk behaviors, check out the resources below: 

Proclamation on National Recovery Month, 2022

National Recovery Month 2022 - SAMHSA

Recovery is Possible I Drug Overdose I CDC Injury Center 

Stigma Reduction I Stop Overdose I CDC Injury Center 

CDC’s Suicide Prevention Website

Youth.Gov - Youth Suicide Prevention

FEATURED RESOURCES

CDC’s Suicide Prevention Month: Partner Toolkit

CDC’s Injury Center created a Suicide Prevention Month Social Media Toolkit, which includes sample social media graphics and messages centered around the key role personal connections play in preventing suicide. The toolkit content also highlights messages about the importance of connecting with others, learning how to cope with stress in order to increase resilience, and promoting the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Click here to access the toolkit

CDC’s Drink Less, Be Your Best Campaign

CDC’s Alcohol Program has two new resources to share:

• The Drink Less, Be Your Best campaign is a new digital mass communications campaign that encourages US adults who drink excessively to drink less to improve their quality of life, relationships, and health. Engaging with the campaign prompts individuals to check their drinking levels, identify their motivators and barriers to drinking less, and develop a personalized plan to drink less.

• As part of this campaign development, CDC launched a new tool for adults to anonymously check their drinking, identify barriers and motivators for drinking less alcohol, and print or save a personalized change plan. This evidence-based tool is a free resource that can be used by adults or institutions.

While these aim to reach the millions of US adults who drink too much but who do not have an alcohol use disorder, resources are provided for individuals who need help locating specialized services or treatment. We hope you will consider ways that these may be useful to your organization or audience. Campaign materials are available here. Additional sharable graphics are available here.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

DEA Warns of Brightly-Colored Fentanyl Used to Target Young Americans

The Drug Enforcement Administration is advising the public of an alarming emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available across the United States. In August 2022, DEA and other law enforcement partners seized brightly-colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states. Dubbed “rainbow fentanyl” in the media, this trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people.

In September 2021, DEA launched the One Pill Can Kill Public Awareness Campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of fake pills. Additional resources for parents and the community can be found on DEA's Fentanyl Awareness page.

Click Here for the Full Article

NEW WEBINARS

REGISTER NOW: CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention’s WEBINAR: Disparities in Overdose Deaths: Opportunities for Action on Wednesday, September 28 from 11:00am - 12:30pm ET

The webinar will discuss the racial/ethnic disparities in overdose deaths in the United States and the importance of evidence-based, culturally responsive, multi- sectoral approaches to close these gaps.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

REGISTER NOW: 2022 HIDTA Prevention VIRTUAL Summit on October 6th from 8:45am to 4:30pm EST

This summit will discuss advances in substance use prevention science, policy, and strategies in the context of national substance threats. In addition, attendees will learn how to apply evidence-informed messaging frames in public safety, educator, caregiver, healthcare provider, coalition, and prevention professional roles.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

NEW SCIENCE

NIH Monitoring The Future News Release: Marijuana and Hallucinogen Use Among Young Adults Reached All Time-High in 2021

Marijuana and hallucinogen use in the past year reported by young adults 19 to 30 years old increased significantly in 2021 compared to five and 10 years ago, reaching historic highs in this age group since 1988, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study.

• Rates of past-month nicotine vaping tripled compared to 2017, despite leveling off in 2020; a continuation of a long-term upward trend.
• Past-month marijuana vaping, which had significantly decreased in 2020, rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
• Alcohol remains the most used substance among adults in the study, returning to pre-pandemic levels, though past-year, past-month, and daily drinking have generally been decreasing over the past decade.
• Binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks) rebounded in 2021 from a historic low in 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic.
• Past-month cigarette smoking and non-medical use of opioid medications also declined compared to 10 years ago.

Click Here for the Full Report 

NIH Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study: Adolescents’ Use of Free Time and Associations with Substance Use from 1991 to 2019

Substance use is elevated among adolescents who spend high levels of social time with peers, particularly with low levels of engagement in other activities or lower supervision, as well as adolescents who spend time at a paid job. However, the overall trends in substance use have declined over the past decades for all adolescents, with the exception of cannabis use and vaping. Given that cannabis use and vaping are increasing across groups, the article identifies the need for enhanced public health measures.

Click Here for the Full Report

CDC Journal Articles: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Overdose: Lessons From Overdose Data to Action (OD2A)

This study highlights the opportunities to expand the breadth of adverse childhood experience prevention strategies across the social ecology. The study finds that most strategies implemented by OD2A jurisdictions were implemented at the community level only. Implementing cross-cutting overdose and adverse childhood experience‒related activities that span the social‒ecologic model are critical for population-level change and have the potential for the broadest impact.

Click Here for the Full Report

NEW WEBSITE CONTENT – Please share!

CDC’S DFC website has a new page that encourages eligible entities to apply to the DFC program and outlines the statutory eligibility requirements. If you know of a coalition that is interested in applying, please share this link:  https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/drug-free-communities/funding-announcements.html.

Disclaimer: *The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. *

Best Wishes,

The CDC Team