HUTCHINSON, Kan. – While many at the August meeting of the Mayor’s Task Force on the drug problem in Hutchinson liked the idea of bringing more inpatient drug treatment options to Hutchinson, Mayor Jade Piros De Carvalho says they will focus this month on prevention.
She says they’re striving to take a comprehensive look at the drug problem from many angles. At the September meeting, they’ll hear from a speaker that advocates for the use of environmental prevention strategies to help with curbing drug use.
According to the National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute, the environmental model is “grounded in the field of public health, which emphasizes the broader physical, social, cultural and institutional forces that contribute to the problems that (anti-drug) coalitions address, environmental strategies offer well-accepted prevention approaches that coalitions use to change the context (environment) in which substance use and abuse occur.”
The speaker will be Marcia Bartleson from the Sumner County Community Drug Action Team. She’s currently a board member and former executive director, as well as a former school counselor, and has extensive training in prevention and environmental strategies.
The next meeting will be on Sept. 17 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the city council chambers.