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Substance Abuse

Colorado School Safety Resource Center

Other Substance Abuse Materials

Rise Above Colorado

  • Empowering youth to make healthy connections, decisions and change

Fentanyl

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Therefore, overdoses happen faster and are harder to stop. It comes in pills, pure powders, and powder mixed with other drugs. It cannot be seen, tasted or smelled when mixed into other drugs. The Denver Public Health & Environment fentanyl page has more resources.

Colorado Department of Revenue

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  • Division of Adolescent and School Health
    • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) site provides links to both federal and non-federal resources on school health including tools, program evaluation, resources on developing, implementing, and evaluating local wellness policies, etc.
  • Stop Overdose
    • To address the increasing number of overdose deaths related to both prescription opioids and illicit drugs, the CDC created a website to educate people who use drugs about the dangers of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, the risks and consequences of mixing drugs, the lifesaving power of naloxone, and the importance of reducing stigma around recovery and treatment options.
  • The Facts About Fentanyl
    • Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S.

Children's Safety Network (CSN)

  • Children's Safety Network, National Resource Center for Injury and Violence Prevention is dedicated to working with state, territorial and community Maternal & Child Health and Injury & Violence prevention programs to create an environment where all children and youth are safe and healthy. We work with states and territories to infuse knowledge, expertise, and leadership to reduce injury, hospitalization, disability and death for all children and youth.

Colorado Department of Education

  • Dropout Prevention and Student Engagement
    • The Colorado Department of Education has collected K-12 public school drug, alcohol, and tobacco incidents since the 2000-2001 school year. A ten-year trend can be viewed at:, ATOD Colorado School Trends.
    • Provides resources that may be helpful to educate school staff, students, parents, and the broader public about the dangers of substance abuse., Information includes how using drugs may impede learning and undermine student achievement.
    • Understand the Big Deal: How Marijuana Harms Youth

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

  • Adolescent SBIRT sbirt.webs.com
    • Adolescent SBIRT Toolkit for Educators.
      • This curriculum offers skills-based education on Adolescent Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). The curriculum is comprised of an Instructor's Toolkit containing the Learner's Guide to Adolescent SBIRT with companion slide decks and supplemental resources, and the web-based SBI with Adolescents simulation program.

Colorado Institute of Health

  •  Colorado's prevention leaders developed this plan for state agencies that fund prevention programming. It proposes two bold goals: To reduce substance abuse and misuse among youth and their families, and to address the upstream risk factors that predict substance abuse and other behavioral health problems, like suicide and depression, and the protective factors that mitigate these bad outcomes, like youth resilience and social skills. In other words, it aims to prevent substance abuse by promoting overall mental health. This plan represents Colorado's commitment to getting ahead of substance use and abuse before it starts - and, in turn, to improving the lives of thousands of Colorado's adults, youth and families.
  • Putting Prevention Science to Work: Colorado's Statewide Strategic Plan for Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse - 2019-2024 (PDF 2KB)

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)

  • Since 1992 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) has been training local grassroots groups, known as community anti-drug coalitions, in effective community problem-solving strategies, teaching them how to assess their local substance abuse-related problems and develop a comprehensive plan to address them.
  • Online Rx Abuse Prevention Toolkit contains facts, strategies and tools to prevent and reduce teen prescription medicine misuse in your community. This toolkit is based on CADCA's Seven Strategies for Effective Community Change. Incorporating these strategies will help you formulate, modify and implement your prevention and intervention strategies.

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Front Range Clinic - Medical Mobile Unit

  • Do you struggle with addition? Recovery is a process. You just have to start. Front Range Clinic brings medication assisted treatment (MAT) to you! In conjunction with the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH), MAT mobile units have been designed specifically to provide addiction treatment to rural communities. The MAT mobile units will travel to designated communities to provide these services. Call (970) 616-2756 or view schedule at Front Range Clinic Mobile-Unit Website

Food and Drug Administration

  • The Real Cost Campaign
    • Launched by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2014
    • Every day in the United States, more than 3,200 youth under age 18 smoke their first cigarette - and more than 700 youth under age 18 become daily smokers - highlighting a critical need for stronger, targeted youth tobacco prevention efforts. To combat this critical issue, FDA's first youth tobacco prevention campaign "The Real Cost" targets at-risk youth aged 12-17 who are open to smoking or already experimenting with cigarettes.
    • Free campaign materials available on the website include fact sheets, posters, postcards, social media content, and ads for print, television, radio and websites.

Institute for Behavior and Health (IBH)

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

National Jewish Health

  • My Life, My Quit™ 
    • In response to the vaping epidemic, National Jewish Health launched My Life, My Quit™ a nicotine cessation program developed to help teens quit e-cigarettes and other forms of tobacco. To build the program, NJH sought teens' input in focus groups and consulted with experts in teen behavior. My Life, My Quit is currently available in 19 states with active exploration of opportunities to expand nationwide.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

  • Reports and Detailed Tables from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
    • NSDUH provides estimates of the use of illegal substances, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as mental disorders, treatment, and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the United States. NSDUH data also help to identify the extent of substance use and mental illness among different sub-groups, estimate trends over time, and determine the need for treatment services. Today, SAMHSA released the latest data findings from the 2018 NSDUH. These reports and detailed tables present estimates from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children

  • National DEC's approach for addressing the needs of children in dangerous drug environments focuses on the formation of community-based partnerships that encourage agency personnel from across multiple disciplines to coordinate their mutual interests, resources and responsibilities. Supports state services and local communities by helping to develop efficient and effective strategies and tools that better leverage existing resources. Provides national leadership, strategic planning, training, and technical assistance to our alliances and network members and advocates for intervention on behalf of these innocent victims.
  • Includes Resources, Monthly Newsletters, & Online Trainings

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) | NCTSN en Español

National Center for Campus Public Safety

  • Social Norms in Alcohol Abuse Prevention
    • Alcohol Awareness Month is a public health program organized by Facing Addiction with NCADD designed to increase outreach and education regarding the dangers of alcoholism and issues related to alcohol. As Alcohol Awareness Month continues, one focus on college campuses is prevention. One prevention mechanism that has shown great efficacy is the social norms approach. Social norms are the informal rules that govern behavior in groups and societies and include things like shaking hands when meeting someone, covering a sneeze, or raising your hand to get attention in a group.
    • According to the National Social Norms Center, the social norms approach to behavior change "combines lessons learned from a variety of fields including social marketing, sociology, behavioral psychology and evaluation research." The social norms approach considers that college students tend to overestimate the amount of alcohol use and abuse by their peers, and this is a conception that begins at a young age. According to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation,(PDF), "Only 2% of 6th-12th graders think that seniors don't drink. In reality, 25% of 12th graders report not drinking alcohol, a healthier proportion than their younger classmates perceive."
    • The social norms approach:
      • focuses on positive messages about healthy behaviors and attitudes that are common to most people in a group.
      • does not use scare tactics or stigmatize an unhealthy behavior.
      • avoids moralistic messages from authorities about how the target group "should" behave. Instead, it simply presents the healthy norms already existing in the group.
      • builds on the assets already in the community, through participation by community members, and by highlighting those who make healthy choices.
    • The last bullet above is important from an implementation perspective. The Social Norms Approaches Using Descriptive Drinking Norms Education: A Review of the Research on Personalized Normative Feedback recommends targeting students who are at higher risk for heavier alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Utilizing peers in their networks, like student athletes, those with similar academic interests, or those who participate in Greek life or other social networks, to share the social norms message is an effective mechanism for prevention. For information on how to start a social norms campaign, visit the For Practitioners section of the National Social Norms Center website.

Office of National Drug Control Policy

  • Above the Influence
    • Launched by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Above the Influence campaign follows an extensive consultation with experts in the fields of health communications and drug prevention.
    • Above the Influence Toolkit with helpful information for schools and adults
  • PEERx
    • An initiative of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
    • Aims to empower teens to avoid prescription drug abuse.
  • Prescription Drugs

Partnership to End Addiction

  • The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is a nonprofit organization that unites parents, renowned scientists and communications professionals to help families raise healthy children. The centerpiece of this effort is an online resource center at drugfree.org, featuring interactive tools that translate the latest science and research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into easy to understand tips and tools.
  • The Medicine Abuse Project is a campaign to curb teen medicine abuse., A suite of resources for educators, is available and is tailored specifically for teachers, school administrators, school nurses and other specialized instructional support personnel to help prevent medicine abuse in schools, home and communities.

RMC Health

  • Second Chance - Tobacco Suspension Alternative - Free Online Colorado Program
    • Second Chance is a FREE on-line, interactive, and self-directed alternative to suspension program for teens who violate tobacco policy at school, or tobacco law in the community. The program can also be used with teens who are experimenting with tobacco, but have not violated any policy or law. Teens can be referred to Second Chance by staff in schools, local health agencies, and youth-serving organizations.
    • Informational Flyer
    • Administrator's Start-Up Guide
  • Tobacco-Free Schools Policy Checklist Toolkit
    • Colorado Tobacco-free Schools Policy Checklist Toolkit (2010) created by the Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion an Education, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment's State Tobacco Education &, Prevention Partnership. The Colorado Tobacco-free Schools Checklist Toolkit includes tools and strategies to assist Colorado schools in developing and implementing comprehensive tobacco-free policies.

Smart Colorado

  • Smart Colorado is the only non-profit organization focused on protecting the health, safety and well-being of Colorado youth as marijuana becomes increasingly available and commercialized. Smart Colorado formed after the 2012 passage of Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution, which legalized the sale and possession of recreational marijuana. We believe Colorado's top priority around marijuana policy and education should be protecting our youth.

Speak Now!

Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

U.S. Department of Education

  • Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS)
    • Preparing for Opioid-Related Emergencies for K-12 Schools and Institutions of Higher Education.,
      • Opioid overdose deaths among children and teenagers have tripled since 1999, according to a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, research article, indicating that opioid abuse and misuse continue to be a problem for schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs). To help the educational community address such an emergency, the REMS TA Center has released a fact sheet on Preparing for Opioid-Related Emergencies for K-12 Schools and Institutions of Higher Education. Aims to empower teens to avoid prescription drug abuse.
    • Fact Sheet: to support core planning teams in integrating this threat in their emergency planning efforts, the REMS TA Center is pleased to share a fact sheet on fentanyl and opioids for K-12 schools, school districts, and IHEs. This fact sheet provides education agencies with information and strategies for addressing fentanyl and opioid overdoses on their campuses through EOPs and other preparedness activities, such as having naloxone on hand for emergency treatment, awareness, and training.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

U.S. Department of Justice,

Youth.gov

  • Find Youth Info
    • youth.gov was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), which is composed of representatives from 18 federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth. The IWGYP promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth.

Colorado Office of School Safety
700 Kipling Street, Suite 1000
Lakewood, Colorado 80215

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Phone: 303-550-2737
Email: cdps_school_safety_center@state.co.us

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