Found on the Web --- Village of Buffalo Grove Website
Buffalo Grove Community Forum – Drug Abuse
The Buffalo Grove School Safety Partnership is joining forces with Stevenson and Buffalo Grove High Schools to sponsor a community-forum on drug abuse at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, October 7, 2009. The forum will be held in Buffalo Grove High School’s theater at 1100 W. Dundee Road, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089. This event is part of a regional effort to increase awareness and understanding about illicit drug activity, particularly the use of heroin, and its consequences to parents of high school-aged students.
Anyone interested in attending the forum is asked to RSVP please visit the link as you need to call or Email the Buffalo Grove Police Commander, Steve Husak.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Buffalo Grove Community Forum – Drug Abuse October 7, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Angry Teenagers
I found this article very interesting - as well as this website you should read more - it could help... IMO - boarding school costs money ~ we can as a community help these children ~ OUR CHILDREN!
Enough said - bookmark this if you would like and read it later - just have a Happy 4th of July - do you know what your children are doing tonight?
The Family SchoolBy Jeffrey S. Brain, M.A., C.T.S. (Certified Trauma Specialist)
We live in violent times, in a country where an incident of child abuse is reported every ten seconds; where domestic violence claims the lives of three women every single day; and where every year half a million senior citizens are abused - most often by a member of their own family.Considering that one in nine murders is committed by youth under 18, we can assume that most perpetrators of violent crimes are - or once were - angry teens. According to a recent survey, three out of four teenage boys admitted to hitting someone in the past year because they were angry. Almost half believe it's okay to hit or threaten a person who makes them mad, and have carried a gun, knife or club in the past month.
And one third agreed with the statement"When I am really angry, there is no way I can control myself."
Learning to manage one's anger is an essential life skill for anyone, but especially for teenagers who frequently use anger as a response to the frustrations and stresses of growing up.
In this respect, anger (as well as other emotions like sadness, anxiety, hopelessness and self-pity), resembles alcohol. They can all be used to "self-medicate" - to compensate for the pressures and strains the teenager hasn't yet learned to deal with. Often anger itself becomes the coping mechanism, a way of exerting power and control over one's environment. Used habitually in this way, it is a dangerous substitute for healthier, more adaptive coping strategies-strategies that can't be learned until the anger can be managed. And like those who habitually use drugs, alcohol, eating, gambling or sex as coping mechanisms, those who use anger will find that it inevitably interferes with normal functioning, and can eventually destroy any opportunity for happiness or satisfaction in life.The good news is that the 12-Step program, which has help millions of alcoholics, drug abusers, compulsive eaters, gamblers and others in the throes of addiction, can also help angry teens.
How the 12 Steps Work for Anger The core tenets of the 12 Steps, including rigorous honesty, are related to cognitive-behavioral therapy and share some of the same approaches for permanently changing one's behavior.
The 12 Steps challenge our thinking about the way we see and interpret experiences, and teach us how to respond to stress not in the heat of the moment, but according to our values and principles. The process involves not trusting our own thinking. This is an important concept in managing anger. The judgments and conclusions we draw when we are responding emotionally to a situation (i.e. the things we think when we are angry) often drive our physical reactions. In the 12-Step model, however, we learn to think beyond the emotion to a healthier, more adaptive response. Angry people are like the man whose house is set on fire and goes chasing after the arsonist instead of tending to the more important task of putting the fire out. His response is totally self-defeating, yet those who struggle with managing their anger can easily see themselves doing the same thing. Driven by the emotion of perceived wrong, they chase after others (revenge, resentment) rather than dealing with the real problem - the fire. In fact, many of us have lost the ability to put out our own fires. Instead, we automatically shift the responsibility for our anger to others, chasing them down while our life disintegrates around us. The analogy applies to alcohol and substance abuse as well, and to other addictions that can distract us from the more important work of dealing with the problems at hand. In many cases, teens turn to alcohol, drugs, food or sex to suppress their anger. While they may find temporary relief, the long term effects can be disastrous. With regular use, these substances and behaviors take on lives of their own. So even if the teen gets help and manages to make his or her problems and frustrations go away, the addiction remains.
A weekly Anger Management group what a concept for a school to implement with the lost children of their system. 12 step progman may have a stigma attached ~ get over it people!Share you experiences with them, teach them strategies to help them regain balance, control and serenity in their lives as they move through the crises of adolescence toward responsible adulthood!
It's a whole new world out their ~ get with the program - on baby step at a time!Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Heroin is alive and living in Lake County, IL.
After over one and a half years ~ COMMUNITY FORUM on Drug Awareness & Heroin
~ you can bet on it ~ "Heroin is alive and living in Lake County, IL..
I copied and pasted these article's ~ as I am so tired of waiting for this to awakening withing our community to happen - to many children are not with us today so please ~ make sure you RSVP as well - read the rules!
If you are in the vicinity ~ please take some time out of your day to listen, learn & educate yourselves.
By RONNIE WACHTER rwachter@pioneerlocal.com
The Buffalo Grove School Safety Partnership, in conjunction with Buffalo Grove and Stevenson high schools, will hold a community forum Thursday to address the topic of drug abuse in the area.
The event is part of a regional effort to increase the awareness and understanding of drug activity and its consequences to parents of high school age students.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. at the Buffalo Grove Park District's Alcott Center, 530 Bernard Drive, and will place special emphasis on heroin abuse.
Heroin and prescription drug overdoses throughout the area have become a widespread and persistent public safety problem that creates serious personal, social and economic consequences for adolescents, their families and the community.
"We're directing this at parents of high school students, upper grades," Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak said. "There have been a few overdoses and other issues that have been on the rise in the last year."
"The walls need to be put up," said Lisa Stone, a Buffalo Grove trustee who helped organize the meeting because of her concern about heroin use in the community. "It's the most powerful drug on our planet."
Stone said Friday that she would like to see Buffalo Grove become known as the No. 1 community in Illinois in the fight against heroin, as its Police Department is known as a leader in the fight against drunken driving.
The program will feature presentations by:
• Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group's regional drug task force
• Lake County Coroner's Office
• Lake County States Attorney's Office
• Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory.
The public is invited, and can R.S.V.P at the village of Buffalo Grove Web site vbg.org by following the instructions on the community forum announcement, or by e-mailing Husak at shusak@vbg.org
Good Luck ~ May "God" bless you all - vonna ~
Friday, May 22, 2009
Heroin ~ 40% of high school seniors do not believe that there is a great risk in trying heroin.
It's never to late ~ I found this on the web today ~
Recent studies suggest a shift from injecting to snorting or smoking heroin because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction. Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed-pod of the Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names associated with heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." Other names may refer to types of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as "Mexican black tar."
Your child's High School Graduation is just around the corner they will be gone from home by summer's end.
Did you know that ~
40% of high school seniors do not believe that there is a great risk in trying heroin.
If you suspect your child is using drugs get proactive; educate yourself to be armed with the facts, you fears will subside and you will know how to confront your child so they do hear you speak!
Listen To Those Who Have Been Through It!~ -------->
"The longer you wait to speak to your child, that day may come where you will speak no more!" ~ jv
TAKE ACTION & visit The Anti Drug get yourself educated!
Follow the Links on the front page
- Take Action
- Get Past the Fear
- Advice & Tips
- Conversations
- Get Help
~ to find help in your community.
Find it at the top of this -----------------> page!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Lake County Daily Herald TODAY ~
Lake County law enforcement officials say they're seeing a disturbing trend: an increase in heroin traffic.
The evidence county officials point to is the amount of heroin seized and several overdose deaths so far this year.
Keith Frederick, deputy director of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group -- the county wide drug enforcement agency --said heroin traffic increased possibly because the drug is cheap enough for younger users to purchase.
"It's also becoming more popular because there are different ways of ingesting it," Frederick said. "You don't just have to snort it or use a syringe, so it's easier to use."
It costs $10 to $15 for a quick fix of the drug, he said. One gram is equal to about 15 doses.
So far this year, 20 grams of heroin have been seized in Lake County. Four grams were seized in January and February, but 16 grams were taken in the past two weeks.
That's below the 31 grams seized in Lake County in all of 2007, and roughly the same amount -- 21 grams -- as in 2006, Frederick said.
"It's something we are definitely keeping our eye on," he said. "It seems like it's becoming more popular out here."
Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said there's also been a spike in fatal heroin overdoses.
Five heroin-related deaths have been recorded in 2008, and 12 in the past six months, Keller said. In all, heroin overdoses accounted for 18 deaths in 2007 and 16 in 2006.
"I am really concerned," he said.
Just this week, two Fox Lake residents died from what is believed to be a heroin overdose. Keller said he's awaiting toxicology reports for an official cause.
Across the border in northern Cook County, Palatine Police Cmdr. Alan Stoeckel said cocaine and heroin were found at the scene of two separate deaths in the past three months. They also are waiting for toxicology results before announcing an official cause of death.
Frederick said the deaths may occur because users do not know the purity of heroin being consumed.
Chemicals are used to dilute heroin because the human body cannot handle ingesting the drug in its purest form, he said.
"When you get heroin, you essentially don't know what you are getting," he said. "It's like playing Russian Roulette because you aren't sure on the purity or what's been used to dilute it."
While heroin use may be on the rise in Lake County, state drug officials said it is dropping nationally and remaining constant in Illinois.
Tony Rapac, head of the Illinois MEG Directors and Task Force Commander Association, said dealers in Lake County are trying to move in on new territory after leaving other territories.
"This sounds like it's one or two counties," he said. "And, it's probably one or two groups trying to make inroads in there."
Quote per Dr. Keller on the article above
My intent of the longer quote I gave him was that if this is indeed a trend of increased heroin use and death it is concerning on many levels.
Beyond just the toll of the heroin itself, its use is associated with increased participation in crime and violence, certainly negatively impacting the community. To address this problem we need a multi pronged approach with targeted law enforcement, and social prevention programs with treatment availability, to mention just a few parts of the attack. We must also be mindful that this is but one of the many problems that need to be addressed, but if we look for commonalities in approaches we might be able work effectively using a broadened scope and work under a rubric of community healing and wellness beyond individual wellness.
Your comments are welcome ~ thank you...
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