Wallingford's Youth Prescription Drug, Opioid, and Methamphetamine Misuse Prevention Initiative - The Coalition for a Better Wallingford (CBWLFD) seeks funding through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) Local Drug Crises Program to address youth prescription drug misuse, opioid-related harm, methamphetamine exposure, counterfeit substances, and youth access to substances in Wallingford, Connecticut. Although youth misuse rates remain relatively low, local data demonstrate increasing overdose activity, youth access and exposure to substances within school settings, declining participation in medication disposal efforts, and growing concerns regarding counterfeit substances and methamphetamine-contaminated pills. Local assessment findings also identified gaps in community data related to perceptions of harm, medication sharing behaviors, youth access to prescription medications, and community norms surrounding substance use. The purpose of this project is to maintain low rates of youth prescription drug misuse and methamphetamine use while reducing opportunities for youth access to substances, increasing awareness of counterfeit substances and overdose risks, strengthening protective factors, and changing community norms regarding the acceptability of youth substance use. The project will build upon the Coalition’s existing Drug Free Communities infrastructure and utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework and Seven Strategies for Community Level Change to implement evidence-informed prevention activities that address identified local conditions. Project strategies will include youth educational workshops focused on prescription drug misuse, counterfeit substances, overdose prevention, refusal skills, resiliency, and healthy decision-making; peer-to-peer prevention education; youth-led social norms campaigns; school-based prevention activities; youth leadership development through Students Against Destructive Decisions and youth committee activities; environmental prevention initiatives; medication safety education; medication lock box distribution; medication disposal campaigns; promotion of permanent medication disposal locations and National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events; parent and community education; and community assessment activities designed to improve understanding of local risk factors, protective factors, perceptions of harm, medication sharing behaviors, and youth access to substances. The Coalition will engage youth, parents, schools, healthcare providers, law enforcement, local government, youth-serving organizations, and other community partners in implementation efforts. Expected outcomes include reduced youth prescription drug misuse, reduced exposure to counterfeit substances and methamphetamine-related drug threats, reduced opportunities for youth to be offered, sold, or given illegal drugs on school property, increased safe medication storage and disposal practices, reduced availability of unused prescription medications within homes, increased perceptions of harm associated with substance use, reduced favorable attitudes toward youth substance use, and strengthened school connectedness, positive peer norms, and youth protective factors. The project will also strengthen local prevention infrastructure through enhanced community assessment efforts, improved data collection, and increased multisector collaboration. Through these efforts, the Coalition aims to create sustainable community-level change that reduces risk factors, strengthens protective factors, decreases youth access to substances, and prevents future opioid, prescription drug, and methamphetamine-related harms among Wallingford youth.
