Eric, a teenager, started taking Oxycontin from his uncle’s medicine cabinet and using it at parties with his friends.

Harold, a 45-year-old father and construction worker, suffers from chronic back pain and was prescribed Percocet by a primary care physician lacking training in pain management.

Both are now heroin addicts.

How did this happen?

According to the CDC, between 1999 and 2014, unintentional overdoses on Opioid prescription medications, such as Oxycontin and Percocet, have quadrupled. There are a number of reasons for this:

Dabbing: "You Are All Crazy, It's A Dance!"

From the moment we hold our own baby in our arms, we have a deep instinctual desire to keep that baby safe.

We read all the “latest” info on child development, never thinking that maybe the old tried and true that our Mothers told us might be best.  Sometimes, as a parent, we become fatigued from repeating the same message…think of having a 2 year old or a teenager.  Well, imagine being a grandparent and still wanting to keep your children and grandchildren Safe, Healthy, and Drug Free!  Exhausting.

I received a long, descriptive definition about the “latest” drug trend, Dabbing. I was perplexed about how to handle the information. The dilemma: if we broadcast all the particulars, will it give some enterprising kid an idea to try it?

Well, as usual, I tested out the message on my family.  New technology gives us the power to connect to everyone through text chats.   So on one of the family exchanges, I casually asked, “does anyone know what Dabbing is?” The exchanges ranged from dabbing as a verb with a cotton ball, to a dance, to a drug.

Great news! The 31st Annual Informed Families Dinner at Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant will take place on Monday, May 16, 2016. Long-time supporters Nancy & Jon Batchelor of the Batchelor Foundation will co-chair the illustrious event, alongside daughter-in-law and son Anna & Jon Batchelor, Jr.

The Joe's dinner will raise funds to support Informed Families' prevention programs and initiatives across Florida, which are designed to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

The theme of this year’s dinner is “Generations.”  Generations of Families have been supporting Informed Families Annual Dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab for 31 years. Informed Families will be releasing wonderful photos of generations of families who have supported Informed Families’ mission of helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free by attending the dinner.

Who can resist sharing a dinner of Joe's Stone Crabs with family and friends? The annual Informed Families Dinner at Joe’s is an event with NO boring speeches; just good friends and families who want to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free!

“Each Generation has a responsibility to pass on the drug free message to the next Generation,” said President & CEO Peggy B. Sapp. 

The Informed Families dinner at Joe’s brings out Miami’s best families. Will you be part of the festivities? For more information, please contact Esther Davila Edavila@Informedfamilies.org or 305-856-4886.

Informed Families, as we know it, would not exist without strong, passionate and resourceful partners. One such partner is Dr. Jessica Spencer, project director of The Manatee County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, locally known as “Drug Free Manatee.”

A true prevention advocate, Dr. Spencer aims to reach children well before drugs and alcohol enter the picture.

“What I like most about my work is the opportunity to educate and promote overall health and wellness to people in our community and in our State,” said Dr. Spencer. “Educating our communities about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs is so important. We are living in an illness-driven society right now where children are being taught that for every ailment or challenging feeling, there’s a pill to solve the problem. There will be bumps in the road, but you don’t have to reach for a bottle, pill or plant (cannabis) to make you feel better.”

In her eighteen plus years in the field of prevention and addiction, Dr. Spencer has worked in various capacities at the local, regional and statewide level to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free. She is well known in the Florida prevention arena for her work in fight against marijuana legalization, having served as Statewide Coalition Director of the “Vote No on Amendment 2” initiative. In her role as Project Director at Drug Free Manatee, Dr. Spencer plans, implements and evaluates activities and programs that positively impact the health and wellness of all Manatee County citizens.

What Is Silent Disco?

Turns out this is an age-related question! If you are in college or into the club scene, Silent Disco is normal; if you are older, you are likely scratching your head and saying, “WHAT’S Silent Disco?”

The answer includes all the old images: mirror ball, strobe lights and loud music, but the loud music is now contained within your own headset. I first experienced this new phenomenon while visiting my grandson for a family weekend in Boulder, Colorado. When we asked if the music was the same song (oops, I mean "play list") on everyone’s headset, we were greeted with a look that said, “What a quaint idea, why would we want to do that?”

So folks, you’ve heard and read about the breakdown of society in “Bowling Alone.” We are now taking societal breakdown to another level: DANCING ALONE WHILE IN A GROUP. No need for eye contact, or coordination of movements… just do your own thing and believe you’re interacting with others. Dance has traditionally been about communication and closeness; in silent disco, dance is all about YOU.

This January, Informed Families is partnering with Publix Pharmacy to deliver the Lock Your Meds® campaign, which aims to reduce prescription drug abuse by making adults aware that they are often the unintended suppliers of abused prescription medications.

Lock Your Meds asks individuals to secure their medication, take regular inventory to ensure nothing is missing, safely dispose of unused or expired medication and share the message with friends and family.

The campaign will be featured in 646 Publix Pharmacy stores across Florida through counter displays and printed pharmacy receipts containing a message about Lock Your Meds. This is the fourth year in a row that Publix, the fastest growing grocery chain in America, is collaborating with Informed Families to reduce prescription drug abuse in Florida's communities. 

School Entry Winner - Orlando Science Elementary School, Paola Stauffer

Home Entry Winner - Demarco/Reynolds Family, Pompano Beach Elementary

Informed Families is proud to announce the winners of its 2015 Florida Red Ribbon Photo Contest, which takes place as a part of National Red Ribbon Week ® – the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign. The contest, sponsored by Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership encouraged families and schools to decorate their homes and classrooms with this year’s Red Ribbon Week theme, “Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free™.” All this was done to promote the commitment to living a healthy and drug-free lifestyle. The winners, who received the most votes in each category (home entries and school entries), earned $1,000 for their schools and an iPad for themselves.

The school entry winner is Orlando Science Elementary School, led by Administrator Paola Stauffer, who coordinated the effort to decorate the front of the school with this year’s Red Ribbon theme. Paola wins an iPad for herself and $1,000 to be used for drug prevention efforts at the school.

“I loved engaging the entire school community in the contest: students, parents, teachers and the administration.” said Paola Stauffer. “I believe if you start educating children early about drug prevention and involving parents, there will be a greater impact.’

Orlando Science Elementary School Principal, Michael Singleton, said he is very proud of his school and impressed by Paola’s efforts to rally the school in support of Red Ribbon Week.

“I am proud that our school won,” said Principal Singleton. “We have a special group of parents, students, and staff who do what it takes to be successfully, both academically and socially. There is a lot of hard work that goes into Red Ribbon Week and it’s nice to see a direct reward for this team effort.”

The home entry winner in the Florida Red Ribbon Photo Contest is the Demarco/Reynolds family. Pompano Beach Elementary School students, Drew, Abby and Stephen Reynolds, and their family, decorated their home fence with this year’s Red Ribbon theme and ultimately won an iPad and $1,000 for their school, from Informed Families.

“What I liked most about my kids participating in the contest was the theme: ‘Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free,’” said Tina Demarco, Drew, Abby and Stephen’s mother. “I want my children to know that they can be themselves. They don’t need to do drugs to fit in with other people.”

Pompano Beach Elementary School Principal Stephen P. Larson expressed his excitement about the win and the financial support for his school.

“We were thrilled to learn that one of our parents thought enough about the importance of drug education, our students, and our community to enter the statewide contest,” said Principal Stephen P. Larson. “It is indeed a powerful demonstration showing the influence that one person and one family can have on our community. We are excited about the opportunity to invest in current drug prevention materials and the potential that these funds can have on our school.”

National Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 and was started by the National Family Partnership in response to the abduction and murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Since its inception, the campaign has touched millions of lives to promote and celebrate drug free living. Informed Families is the Florida Sponsor of the campaign each year.

“An estimated 80 million people celebrate Red Ribbon Week each year,” said Informed Families President & CEO Peggy Sapp. “We designed the contest to bring the Red Ribbon message home and to give parents a chance to talk about the dangers of drug abuse. By receiving the same message at home, in school and in the community, children are significantly more likely to really hear and benefit from the prevention message.”