The We Can Be Drug Free Coalition hopes its new website will serve a real need in Butler County: a resource for parents on how to prevent youth substance abuse.
“We saw the need to develop this website so that people can learn more about prevention and preventing substance use before it’s a problem,” said prevention specialist Abby Hanner.
The site, wecanbedrugfree.org, was funded by grants from the Missouri Department of Mental Health (MDMH).
The Butler County Community Resource Council analyzes the Missouri Student Survey’s local results to discover rates of alcohol and drug abuse in minors. Of the 392 sixth- through 12th-graders surveyed in 2022, 3.1% reported using tobacco in the past 30 days, 10.1% said they had used e-cigarettes, 5% had used marijuana and 2.2% took prescriptions not prescribed by their doctor. Between 22-46% said it would be “easy” or “very easy” to get cigarettes, e-cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs.
“So after reviewing those results, we saw that there definitely is youth substance use happening in our area. And I think we all know as a community that substance use is a problem, and so we want to prevent it before it happens,” explained Hanner.
The website features community and online resources (including a link to the 2022 Missouri Student Survey), educational materials and info about WCBDFC. Hanner posts a monthly blog about prevention and potential risk factors in children’s and teens’ lives such as poverty, over- or under-discipline and exposure to alcohol or drugs through peers or family. Protective factors include reliable support from caregivers, healthy friendships and good coping skills.
“When we look at the science of prevention, we look at increasing the protective factors in a child’s life and decreasing the risk factors,” Hanner said.
CRC’s overall goal is to empower families and draw more people to the Coalition.
“We really hope to educate parents and caregivers in the community on what prevention is and how they can prevent youth substance use with the children who they have an impact on in their lives,” said Hanner, “And then also to be a hub for resources for parents, a place they can go to learn about all the things that this community offers regarding prevention of substance use, and then also to hopefully attract new members to join the Coalition.”
Wecanbedrugfree.org was one of several new resources funded by MDMH’s cumulative $175,000 in grants. The money also sponsored a media campaign directed by youth and a new billboard on North Westwood Boulevard, plus two programs: Life Skills for students and Guiding Good Choices Parent Workshop. The Coalition is not done yet — Hanner is excited to unveil WCBDFC’s next steps in the coming weeks.
“The We Can Be Drug Free Coalition has been working really hard and we’ve got some big, exciting things coming for this community,” she said.
The We Can Be Drug Free Coalition meets every second Tuesday of the month at the Butler County Community Resource Council, 644 Charles St. More information can be found by visiting wecanbedrugfree.org or the Butler County We Can Be Drug Free Coalition page on Facebook, and by calling CRC at 573-776-7830.