South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention Meets Wakefield Shoppers

WAKEFIELD, RI—At the Green Line Apothecary Thursday evening, shoppers heard about some new ways to keep prescription drugs safe at home. Teens with the South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention were there to spread the message about the dangers of opioids. Green Line was the first stop in a campaign called, “Count It. Lock It. Drop It,” to raise awareness about drug abuse. The youngsters will be at Moe's on April 26 and at the Shaw's Supermarket on May 13.

Ellen Laplante, Sophia Arnone, Abigail Hedglen, Sarah Ilgenfritz, Caroline Parente, Natalie Kimmerlein and Maggie Rodgers are the students signed up to visit the Wakefield stores.

According to Heidi Driscoll, the South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention coordinator, the teens came up with some quiz questions to ask the shoppers. For a rights answer, people will win little prizes, such as timer caps for prescription drug bottles and medication lock bags. The teens are also fund raising for a conference they hope to attend in Washington, D.C. this summer, Driscoll said. Thursday night, they sold candy at Green Line, and the store gave them all the soda fountain sales as a contribution. The teens want to go to the conference because they're trying to come up with a strategic plan for the schools to prevent drug abuse.

Driscoll, who has an office at South Kingstown High, said the children from age 12 to 17 are the target group. Some of the younger ones are starting to become curious about drugs, so they're at risk.

"We're starting to see small percentages of children experiment," she said when asked about the youngest. She focuses on prevention and helping them find healthy ways to keep busy. She also said stress is a problem for the teens. Asked about efforts to legalize marijuana, Driscoll said marijuana is a big problem.

"It is going to hurt our youth," she said, as these legislative actions will have unintended consequences. "The perception of harm is not there," she said, due to all the discussions about medical marijuana and decriminalization. Youngsters hear "medical" and draw the conclusion marijuana is healthy. It's not, she said.

"It's a horrible choice to be using marijuana," she said for children. Their brains are still developing.

Money to fund the South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention comes from a federal grant, she said. If you want to help send the girls to the conference, here is the link.

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