In lieu of our coalition meeting this evening, we have put together a short survey.  As a board and staff we have been talking for a long time about putting together a list of speakers for our coalition meetings.  Starting in April we would like to have our first speaker on a topic voted on by our coalition members.

So, if you have volunteered with us in the past or if you are a first time visitor to our website, please follow the link below to take our survey (it is only 5-6 questions).

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/83JNGS8

I look forward to the results, and I should be able to post them on here late next week!

Last Thursday night after we left the CADCA conference, Danielle and I checked into another hotel next to the airport.  When I made the reservations I clearly said that both rooms needed to be non-smoking.  When we arrived at the hotel all of the rooms were booked, and my reservation said “smoking” room.  Now, I don’t want to sound like a moralist or anything of the sort, I just don’t like the smell of smoke.  But with limited options, I headed to the third floor smoking room while Danielle entered her second floor non-smoking room.

As I expected, the room was mediocre and there was a faint smell of cigarette smoke.  I remember hearing stories that at one time it was legal to smoke on planes.  That is crazy!?!?!  Just say that out loud, “while thousands of feet in the air, confined to a small space with multiple engines and hundreds of gallons of gasoline,” it was legal to smoke.  Sure, sounds like a great idea!  While a hotel room is not exactly an airplane, it does seem a bit outlandish that there are still smoking and non-smoking rooms.

Where am I going with this story?  Well, I ran across this article today: http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2010/smoking-residue-could-pose.html.  It turns out that the smoking residue on furniture and clothes is considered “third-hand smoke”.

That is it for today.  Check back tomorrow!!!

As a coalition we are trying to reach as many audiences as possible.  Therefore, we can be found on Twitter!  Please follow us @ocfcohio

For those of you not on twitter, we will be updating our blog daily so check back often!!!

Have a great day!

The coalition meeting for Thursday, February 18, 2010 has been cancelled.  Please stay tuned for our next meeting in April!!!

Thank you for your patience.

***************************************CANCELLED***************************************

On Feb. 18th, we will have our bi-monthly coalition meeting.  Traditionally, the meeting has been at Bay Park, but all of the meeting space is occupied for this Thursday - please stay tuned for an updated location.  OCFC has meetings on the second Thursday of every-other-month at 7:00 p.m.  Now, you might look at a nearby calendar and notice that Feb. 18th is actually the third Thursday in February - we had to move the coalition meeting back one week because our staff was in Washington D.C. for the CADCA conference.

Coalition meetings are very important to determine the direction of our programs, initiatives, and environmental strategies.  It is essential that we, as a staff, hear the input from as many Oregon/Jerusalem Township residents as possible.  If you have any interest in joining our coalition, please come to our meeting or submit a form via the “Membership” tab on the left-hand side of our website.

Our intention at the upcoming Feb. 18th meeting is to give an update from the staff, a brief report about the CADCA conference, and then we want to turn it over to our coalition members.  Another aspect of the coalition meetings will be a guest speaker on topics ranging from prevention to Facebook.  We want to take requests from the coalition members on which topics they would like to learn more about - so come ready with your suggestions!

Thank you to all of our current coalition members, and we look forward to engaging more the community in our prevention efforts - we couldn’t do it without you!

Have a great day!

(I wrote this final update in the BWI airport terminal -however, I could not access the internet to make a post before our flight.  We are home safe and thank you for reading.)

On the final day of the CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) conference, the D.C. area finally enjoyed a day of above-freezing temperatures and a steady stream of sunshine. The majority of the city was still shut down, but the break in weather gave the locals opportunity to shovel their driveways and clear the streets.

I will again put the highlights of the day into a bullet-point format and attempt to keep it brief

• One of the champions (aka huge advocate) of drug-prevention legislation over the years is Senator Christopher Dodd, a democratic representative from Connecticut. Senator Dodd was honored by CADCA and received the National Leadership Award - Iowa’s republican Senator Charles Grassley also received the same award. Senator Dodd joined the conference and charged the coalition leaders to keep fighting for better communities.
• Denise Viera from the U.S. Department of Justice and Michele M. Leonhart the acting administrator of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) attended CADCA for the second Federal Town Hall Meeting. Radio host Kojo Nnamdi was the moderator, and the panel fielded numerous questions from the audience ranging from prescription drug abuse to gang violence.
• The afternoon was split up into three workshop sessions, and a handful of the workshops were again cancelled due to traveling difficulties. Danielle and I were still able to split up and learn a wealth of information – we are looking forward to sharing the information with the community and our coalition.
• A big shout out to Rosa Mexicano – an amazing restaurant that everyone should check out if they are in the D.C. area - http://www.rosamexicano.com/
• Our flight is leaving from Baltimore (BWI airport) at 7:30 a.m. Friday, so we left the conference hotel one night early and took a shuttle to the BWI airport hotel.

Our first CADCA conference was a wonderful experience, and one of the biggest benefits was being able to network with other coalition leaders. Just like any profession, the prevention world has its own lingo. I was able to share success and struggles with other prevention leaders, and it helps tremendously to hear what is going on in the communities around the United States.

Well, our flight is leaving in less than 30 minutes, so I am signing off. The next time I update I will be in the cozy OCFC offices – please stop by and visit us, we would love for you to join the prevention fight in Oregon, OH!

Thanks,

Dave

The winter of 1898-1899 pounded Washington D.C. with 54.4 inches of snow - that was a record until today.  The Washington Post is reporting that the D.C. area has received 54.9 inches of snow this winter.  Needless to say, all of the snow put a few dents in the plans for Day 2 of the CADCA Forum.

A tradition at the CADCA conference is Capitol Hill Day - where prevention advocates travel to Capitol Hill to get the latest and most up-to-date information on legislation.  Coalition members also learn how the Administration and Congress are shaping substance abuse prevention policy.  Unfortunately, with the Federal Government closed for the third consecutive day, CADCA was forced to cancel Capitol Hill Day.

The CADCA staff did not let the blizzard deflate the excitement - we still had the Capitol Hill rally, but it took place in the hotel.  The rally included Sue Thau, CADCA’s public policy consultant, and it was headlined by actor and advocate Christopher Kennedy Lawford (http://www.christopherkennedylawford.com/).

Since we were not able to travel to Capitol Hill, CADCA offered some additional workshops in the afternoon.  I was able to attend a lively discussion concerning Environmental Change Strategies.  In the non-prevention world this would revolve around recycle, reduce, reuse, but at CADCA we talked about policy change.  When most people think of prevention, certain programs like Red Ribbon Week or D.A.R.E. come to mind, but these programs involve individual education.  The whole concept behind the Environmental Strategies is that if coalitions can change laws or policies, this will affect a whole community.  While education and individual programs are effective, Environmental Strategies are the treasure chest of prevention.

Well, before you fall asleep I will conclude.  Thursday will be a full day of workshops, and I look forward to reporting back tomorrow evening.

Thanks,                                                                                                                                             Dave

Our day started at 7:30 with registration and a first-timers breakfast. Everyone was introduced to the CADCA staff and they told us what we should expect over the next couple of days. The conference day finished at 5:45 p.m. as our final workshop came to close. I want to keep our updates relatively short, so I will give the highlights from Tuesday.

·After breakfast, we congregated for the National Leadership Plenary, with scheduled speakers Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent) and R. Gil Kerlikowske (America’s “Drug Czar”). However, Dr. Gupta was unable to join us due to his dedication in helping the earthquake victims in Haiti, but Mr. Kerlikowske offered a great dialogue and gave the audience optimism. Mr. K reinforced the coalition leaders that President Obama is committed to the field of prevention.

·Even though Dr. Gupta was not able to attend in person, he did record a video from Haiti, and he offered a great metaphor. Using a relevant metaphor, Dr. Gupta said, “Addiction destroys lives, it (addiction) is like an earthquake in slow motion”. Wow. That really puts it into perspective.

·The Chairman & CEO of CADCA Arthur T. Dean encouraged all of the prevention leaders to “Keep calm and carry on” – a poster campaign before WWII created by the British government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On.

·The CADCA staff is doing a great job rolling with the punches. There have been many workshops altered or cancelled because some of the speakers were not able to fly into D.C. The D.C. area is getting a lot of snow as I type and I suspect that many of the airports and schools will be shut down again on Wednesday.

·The majority of the prevention experts had a clear message today – prescription drugs are the fastest growing drugs being abused in the nation. Prescription Drug Awareness week is February 22-28, and be on the lookout for a special event to bring awareness about prescription drug abuse in the Oregon, OH community.

·Another insight from today, “The best way to beat the drug problem is to never have one.” Mr. Kerlikowske said this quote, and for me it really sums up the concept of prevention.

That wraps up Day 1 from the CADCA conference. Thanks for tuning in, and see you tomorrow!

After leaving sunny and (relatively) warm NW Ohio Monday afternoon at 3:15, we finally arrived at our hotel a few minutes after 10:00 p.m.  Our flight was on time, and actually we landed in Baltimore (BWI) a few minutes early.  After loading into our SuperShuttle at 8:00, we headed south for what was advertised as a 45-minute drive….

Late last week, the Washington D.C. area was pounded with over 20 inches of snow, President Obama even declared it a “Snowmageddon” - many flights were cancelled, the Metro transit system was shut down, and the majority of the schools were cancelled for today.

…With our man Angel behind the wheel, we took off from the airport at a very respectable 40 mph, and it was all downhill from there, as they say. The snow covered highways made it feel like we were the bowling ball traveling down a lane with bumpers on the side. I was very thankful that Angel was driving as he maneuvered in and out of lanes, dodging other vehicles and multiple snow drifts. Danielle and I soon discovered that the majority of the passengers in the SuperShuttle were fellow CADCA members – this was truly a bonding experience.

The crazy part of it all is that tomorrow, starting at noon, the D.C. area is under a Winter Storm Warning and could add 10-20 inches to the madness! I am sure glad that the conference is taking place downstairs in our hotel, but I am confident that there won’t be much sight-seeing this week.

What does this have to do with prevention you ask? I am sure I could find ‘prevention’ somewhere in our traveling experience, but at this time I am going to have to sleep on it. Our conference kicks off tomorrow morning at 7:30, and I am definitely looking forward to the next few days.

Goodnight!

Next week OCFC will be heading to Washington D.C. for the 20th annual CADCA National Leadership Forum - the acronym CADCA stands for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.  Danielle and I are looking forward to learning about new (and old) prevention strategies, as well as networking with coalitions from across the country.

The website for the CADCA Forum is http://www2.cadca.org/events/forum/forum20/

We look forward to sharing our experiences on OCFC’s website and we will also do a short presentation at our next Coalition Meeting (February 18, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Bay Park Community Hospital).

Thank you all for helping us in the fight for prevention!!