Feds warn of so-called rainbow fentanyl as growing concern.
Rainbow fentanyl has appeared recently in several forms in cities across the country. Fentanyl is usually disguised in fake prescription pills and that the fakes are indistinguishable from real pills.
Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate there were over 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2021, an increase of nearly 15% from the previous year, federal officials said. Synthetic opioids — primarily fentanyl — accounted for more than three-quarters of those deaths.
In 2006, at the age of 21, two young adults in Northport died of an opioid overdose. To honor these lives and help prevent other overdoses and addictions, the Northport community created the Drug and Alcohol Task Force. The program today has evolved into a very exciting part of the community. TBR News Media would like to recognize the efforts of all those involved in their community’s drug prevention efforts. To read more…
Students from Northport-East Northport school district participated in a unique game of Family Feud Monday night to learn about substance abuse and prevention.
Over 200 fifth-graders and their parents attended the 7-9 p.m. event, which took place at the W.J. Brosnan building in Northport, surpassing the predicted 72-student turnout.
The event was sponsored by the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force, a group of public service officials committed to ending substance abuse through education and positive reinforcement.
Their goal; end the lasting stigma that childhood is too early to adopt a ‘too good for drugs’ frame of mind.
Task Force Chairman Anthony Ferrandino aggregated the answers to 41 of the most popular questions on substance abuse for the game using web-based polling website Surveymonkey.com.
“We wanted to engage 5th grade students in a fun way to speak about drug and alcohol prevention,” said Ferrandino. “I think we definitely accomplished that goal.”
Students were split into six teams based on which elementary school they attend; Bellerose, Dickinson, Fifth, Norwood, or Ocean Avenue. One by one, each student approached a podium at the front of the room answered general-knowledge questions related to abuse prevention.
Points were awarded for guessing the most popular answers on the board. Prizes were given to participants who answered the most questions correctly, including movie tickets, mini golf passes, gift cards, and sporting goods.
The grand prize, a Healthy Choice Award trophy, was given to Fifth Avenue Elementary School for answering the most questions correctly.
Ferrandino was shocked by how much information the students knew prior to the event.
“I was truly impressed that most of the kids knew that the reason why you need to be at least 21 to drink is because their brain was not fully developed,” Ferrandino added.
For their next event, the Task Force plans to partner with Youth Directions and Alternatives for their eighth-annual barbecue on July 29.
Photo courtesy of Scott Norcott
Fifth-graders from Bellerose Avenue, Dickinson Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Norwood Avenue, and Ocean Avenue Elementary schools tested their drug and alcohol knowledge in a game of Family Feud on Monday night.
Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force Has Fun Being Drug Free
The halls of the W. J. Brosnan Building were roaring with cheers Monday night as elementary students in Northport learned how to have fun and stay drug free during a game night hosted by the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force.
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