| PHARR, TEXAS |
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, the world’s largest causeway connecting two countries and an important Mexico-United States link, extends directly into Pharr, moving people and commodities. But among those commodities are illicit drugs, and that’s a crisis for Pharr.
| INDONESIA |
Indonesia takes a no-mercy approach to drug trafficking: the death penalty. But that doesn’t stop young people from experimenting, and drug among the nation’s youth is on the rise. With 50 addicts dying every day, the country’s president declared a state of emergency in regard to illicit drugs.
| BUFFALO, NEW YORK |
Professional stock car racer Nate Straus with the car he drove at the Lancaster National Speedway in New York, promoting the message of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.
| HONDURAS |
Honduras’ second-largest city, San Pedro Sula, has become known as the murder capital of the world. A multibillion-dollar drug trade flows through the country along one of the world’s major narcotics trafficking corridors. Business and government corruption is rampant.
| NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK |
New York City is experiencing a heroin epidemic with fatal overdoses claiming more lives than homicides. Meanwhile budget cuts in schools have eliminated most drug education programs.
| BROOKSVILLE, FLORIDA |
One day a few years ago, the assistant warden of the Hernando County Correctional Institution for Women in Florida stopped to get her hair done at a local salon. Her hairstylist, she soon learned, was a dedicated volunteer with the Florida chapter of Foundation for a Drug-Free World and its worldwide Truth About Drugs program.
| MEXICO |
Mexico’s drug cartels hold a firm grip on the lucrative U.S. drug trade, controlling 70% of all drugs trafficked into the U.S. and over 90% of the cocaine trade.
| JAPAN |
Synthetic marijuana is called dappo habu in Japan—“drugs that skirt the law”—and its benign name may be a significant factor in low public awareness of its harmful effects. Yet from January to May 2012, more than 100 reported emergency room visits were related to synthetic drugs.
| MINNESOTA |
As Chief of Police of Babbitt, Minnesota, and an EMT and firefighter as well, Chad Loewen has saved lives. In his dual role as Chief and head of drug education for the department, he says he now saves lives through the Foundation for a Drug-Free World’s Truth About Drugs program. The following is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to the Foundation.
| SOUTH AFRICA |
More than 400 attended Foundation for a Drug-Free World seminars across South Africa in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
| SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
Volunteers of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World passed out 3,000 Truth About Drugs booklets at Sydney’s Chinese New Year Markets at Belmore Park at this year’s Chinese New Year Festival.
| HUNGARY |
Hungarian police from the northern town of Paszto distributed 3,000 Truth About Drugs booklets in a single weekend at the S.U.N. Festival, a trance music festival held in the Cserhat Mountains.
| INTERNATIONAL |
The Drug Free World app provides mobile access to information on the most commonly abused drugs, youth can instantly view at the time they need it most–when they are being exposed to drugs.
| HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA |
Californians for Drug-Free Youth [CADFY] and the Foundation for a Drug-Free World commemorated the 25th anniversary of Red Ribbon Week on Wednesday, October 26, with an awards ceremony in Hollywood.
| OCALA, FLORIDA |
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Red Ribbon Week, with its theme being “I am Drug-Free.” In alignment with that message, on October 26 the Florida Chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World reached out to the citizens of Ocala with resources for drug-free living.
