WASHINGTON, D.C. — Coalition members from Healthy Androscoggin presented their innovative work on Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s 23rd annual National Leadership Forum which brought together 2,600 adult and youth substance abuse prevention and treatment leaders from across the country and around the world.

Held Feb. 4-7, this one-of-a-kind conference offers an opportunity for community leaders to network with their peers, advocate on behalf of the prevention field and choose from a wide variety of training workshops to learn new community problem-solving skills.

During the networking reception and coalition ideas fair on Feb. 4 the coalition shared their successes and provided actionable steps for their coalition colleagues on how to prevent prescription drug abuse through medicine disposal events.

“We were honored to have the chance to share with other coalitions across the country the great success of the medicine take-back program started here in Androscoggin County,” said Scott Gagnon, substance abuse prevention manager. “Over the past three years we’ve been able to more than quadruple the number of households cleaning out their unused medicines.”

While at the conference, the coalition also attended a variety of workshops and had the opportunity to hear inspiring words from a number of national leaders including Congressman Elijah Cummings of the 7th District of Maryland, Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and former Congresswoman Mary Bono Mac.

Healthy Androscoggin received additional recognition from CADCA for its new VetCorps program, a new project to address the access to substance abuse and other health services by military service members and their families. The coalition was also one of five coalitions nationwide nominated for the 2013 Chairman’s Award, which recognizes exemplary demonstration and application of core substance abuse prevention competencies and essential processes of effective community problem solving.

Healthy Androscoggin had the opportunity to meet and brief Sen. Angus King, Sen. Susan Collins and Congressman Mike Michaud on Capitol Hill about their local successes and urge that Congress continue to fund the Drug Free Communities Support Program, as well as other drug prevention, treatment and research programs at the highest levels possible.

“It was so exciting to be able to spend a week in our nation’s Capitol, learning and honing our prevention skills so our community can be a better place, one that doesn’t suffer from the harms of drug and alcohol abuse,” said Gagnon “We’ve come back reenergized with new strategies under our belt to tackle drug use in Androscoggin County.

Some of the coalition’s recent successes include developing an awareness campaign to encourage parents, grandparents and other adults to securely store and monitor their prescription and over the counter medicines. Healthy Androscoggin has also been able to make significant strides in reducing underage drinking through campaigns such as the Parents Who Host, Lose the Most campaign and the support of the Androscoggin County Alcohol Enforcement Team. Healthy Androscoggin looks to continue this success through new initiatives to address the rising prevalence of youth marijuana use.

For more information about Healthy Androscoggin’s substance abuse prevention programs and initiatives, visit www.healthyandroscoggin.org.