BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs costs the country more than $700 billion annually when it comes to crime, lost work productivity and health care.
Unfortunately, illicit drug use in the United States is on the rise. In 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older—9.4 percent of the population—had used an illicit drug in the past month. The increase mostly reflects a recent rise in use of marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug.
In an effort to promote a drug-free county, Berkeley County Council, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, along with mayors and police chiefs in Berkeley County signed a proclamation which declared October 23 – 31 as Red Ribbon Week throughout the county.
The proclamation represents the 25th year the Berkeley County Prevention Board has made a visible and unified commitment toward the creation of a safe and drug-free Berkeley County.
The Berkeley County Prevention Board is sponsored by the Ernest E. Kennedy Center and its Prevention Department.
The National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign in the late eighties following the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena. In 1985, he was tortured and killed in Mexico.
Angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing red ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction caused by drugs in America.
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