Cleaning the ‘Polluted Pond'

By Jeffrey L Reynolds, Ph.D

At a recent meeting of the Suffolk Heroin & Opiate Advisory Panel where we were discussing discussing environmental strategies for addressing underage drinking and substance abuse, HUGS Executive Director Kym Laube made a poignant comment. She said something along the lines of this: “We don’t blame the fish for getting sick after swimming in a polluted pond.” She’s absolutely correct and as we address the adolescent heroin crisis on Long Island, the well-established principle that individuals don’t become involved with alcohol and/or other drugs solely because of personal characteristics needs to remain front-and-center. All of us are influenced by a complex set of factors, such as laws, rules and regulations, community norms, media messages, and the accessibility of alcohol and other drugs. Prevention efforts aimed at changing or influencing community conditions, standards, institutions, structures, systems and policies that shape behaviors are critical to our overall efforts, which is why LICADD takes such an active role in community coalitions, advocacy activities and is working hard to build new partnerships. Click here to learn more about some of our affiliations and let us know if you’ve got ideas about how we can work together.