DRUG FREE ST. LUCIE

Our Mission:

To cultivate a community that supports a substance free lifestyle and well-being in youth through advocacy and community collaboration.

Our Vision:

A healthy, vibrant community that is substance-free.

CURRENT DATA

63%

Past 30-day Marijuana Use among St. Lucie County Youth Decreased from 14.4% in 2014 to 5.3% in 2022

51%

Past 30-day Illicit Drug Use among St. Lucie County Youth Decreased from 5.9% in 2014 to 2.9% in 2022

71%

Underage Drinking in the Past 30-days among St. Lucie County Youth Decreased from 22% in 2014 to 6% in 2022

85%

Early Initiation of Marijuana Use in St. Lucie County Youth Decreased from 15.6% in 2014 to 2.2% in 2022

13%

Perception that Drinking Alcohol is Harmful among St. Lucie County Youth Increased from 39.7% in 2014 to 45.1% in 2022

What is Drug Free St. Lucie?

The Strategic Prevention Framework guides the work of the Drug Free St. Lucie Coalition to develop infrastructure for community-based public health approaches, that lead to effective and sustainable reductions in alcohol, marijuana, and other substance use.

The Roundtable of St. Lucie County’s Substance Abuse Prevention Network was awarded a five-year Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant of $125,000 per year from the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2017 and recently applied and was awarded the five-year continuation of this same grant and was successful. This award will fund our coalition through 2028.

This funding is recognition by the federal government of both the leadership of the Roundtable and the community’s commitment to creating a healthy and safe environment for all St. Lucie County youth. The grant provides local community coalition funding to prevent youth substance use, including prescription drugs, marijuana, and underage drinking.

Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and employ a variety of environmental strategies to address local drug problems. The Roundtable’s Drug Free St. Lucie Coalition is comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, the school district, religious organizations, health care and business professionals, and law enforcement. By involving the community, DFC also helps those youth at risk for substance use recognize that the majority of our nation’s youth choose not to use drugs.

Red Ribbon Week Proclamations

The issuing of Proclamations is a tradition that is granted by local governments to people, organizations, and causes. For the first time, in 2023, all three local governments – the City of Fort Pierce, the City of Port St. Lucie, and St. Lucie County issued Proclamations for Red Ribbon Week, October 23-31, 2023. All three encouraged residents to participate in drug prevention education and awareness activities during the week and throughout the year to make a visible statement that we are strongly committed to a drug-free lifestyle. Drug Free St. Lucie is very grateful to have the support of our local government officials, who are committed to promoting and supporting policies that contribute to the health and wellness of our citizens, residents, and visitors.

How Can You Get Involved?

Drug Free St. Lucie Workgroups:
Changing Social Norms
Meetings held as needed via Zoom.

Drug Free St. Lucie Coalition Meeting:
Meets monthly on the second Thursday at 11:00am via Zoom

Drug Free St. Lucie Workgroups:
Education, Training & Awareness Workgroup
Meets are held as needed via Zoom

Drug Free St. Lucie Workgroups:
Community-wide Initiatives/Compliance
Meetings held as needed via Zoom.

SIGNUP FOR A WORKGROUP

Initiatives And Campaigns

Drug Free St. Lucie focuses on preventing underage drinking and substance abuse through education, awareness, community-wide initiatives/campaigns, and changing social norms.

National Prescription Drugs Take Back Day

Did you know that unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold, or unused drugs that are flushed down the toilet contaminate the water supply? The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is considered a public health, public safety, and national security threat. We can help prevent and reduce medication misuse and opioid addiction by properly disposing of any unneeded medications at home.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, which takes place on the last Saturday of the month in April and October, aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating community residents about the potential for abuse of medications.

To prepare for Take Back Day:

Locate all medications in your household and ensure that they are securely stored (all lids are tightly on bottles, away from the reach of children and pets, etc.);
Inventory the medications and identify which are unwanted and/or have expired dates.
Label each of those identified medications with clear signage that indicates disposal; and
Take them to a collection site between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

If you miss a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day use the collection site locator year-round drop-off locations or scan the QR Code, to locate the closest authorized collector in St. Lucie County.

One St. Lucie Youth Con

With the success of our first “One St. Lucie Youth Con” event in 2022, Drug Free St. Lucie looks forward to hosting the event again in 2024. We expect even greater participation from our community’s youth and support from our community partners. Youth Con is an event for middle and high school students that empowers youth to make a difference in their community and provides them with the skills and knowledge to make positive decisions. It is a unique forum for the youth ages 12-18 years in St. Lucie County to discuss and provide input on important matters that affect them.

Sticker Shock Campaign

Sticker Shock is a campaign that Drug Free St. Lucie is undertaking to discourage adults from supplying alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 years by educating them about the law and the consequences of their actions. Project Sticker Shock uses a youth-driven community environmental approach involving a youth-designed sticker being adhered to packs of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine coolers, etc) in licensed retail stores.

Hidden In Plain Sight – An Awareness Program For Parents

Explore a teenager’s bedroom and learn the hidden signs of drugs and alcohol abuse. This is an in-person interactive experience for adults to raise awareness and recognition of signs that may point to risky adolescent behaviors/drug abuse. The presentation will touch on information about alcohol, marijuana, and other risky behaviors to enhance parenting and work skills, as well as share community resources. Our mock teen bedroom contains 50+ items, which can indicate problems or risky behaviors. You are encouraged to touch everything and identify our red flags.

To schedule a tour please contact: Project Coordinator, Jovil Wharton at JWharton@RoundtableSLC.org

Alcohol Compliance Checks

Compliance checks are a type of environmental prevention strategy that deters alcohol outlets from selling alcohol to underage youth. St. Lucie County law enforcement officials regularly conduct compliance checks with the support and input from Drug Free St. Lucie.

Friday Night, Done Right

This is a social norm campaign that emphasizes activities teens would rather do instead of drinking or doing drugs. It empowers teens through positive alternatives by giving teens the ability to make choices about how they spend not only their Friday nights but any free time. Contact DFSL if you would like your program/activities to be supported and promoted as part of our social norm campaign.

Know The Law: A Guide For Youth And Parents

This booklet was developed as a collaborative project to provide information to parents and youth on the laws surrounding substance abuse and violence and the consequences of breaking them. The goal is to have this booklet distributed in schools or after school programs, to parents, educators, and prevention specialists. To receive a booklet, contact DFSL at JWharton@RoundtableSLC.org.

Talk. They Hear You.

Drug Free St. Lucie is focused on bringing awareness to parents and caregivers in St. Lucie County about the national underage drinking prevention campaign “Talk. They Hear You.” This campaign, developed by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), helps parents and caregivers start talking to their children early –as early as 9 years old– about the dangers of alcohol. The campaign and its website provide tools and literature about the negative consequences of underage drinking. The website also includes an interactive video game that helps parents “learn the do’s and don’ts of talking to kids about underage drinking.”