National Campus Safety Awareness Month

 

 

The Clery Center is offering four free webinars offered throughout the month from 12:00-1:30 PM ET. These include:

Registration is required, and all registrants will receive a recording of the webinar. You may also submit FAQs in advance of each webinar by the noted deadline and they will be answered during the session.

 

The Clery Center will release a social media post calendar and tools for crafting your message on their NCSAM website on September 1. Previous campaign materials are also available as well as links to recommended organizations, important documents and resources such as the 2016 "Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting," final regulations for the 2014 VAWA amendments to the Clery Act, and information on National Hazing Prevention Week, which takes place September 24-28.

 

Use the official hashtag, #NCSAM2018, in your social media messages all month long or follow the conversation to learn more.

Join Us for Our September Webinar on Human Trafficking

 

This September 18at 2:00 PM ET, as part of National Campus Safety Awareness Month and our free monthly webinar series, Campus Public Safety Online, we welcome Louisiana State Police Investigator  Amy Juneau (PDF) and Lieutenant  Angela Banta (PDF) from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office to present  Human Trafficking: What Your Campus Needs to Know. Colleges and universities can be excellent locations for recruitment by traffickers since many students are from other states. College students can have less parental involvement in their daily activities, which can make them a target.

 

Amy and Angela will discuss  the definition of human trafficking, its indicators, which are universal, as well as the impact on victims, including drug abuse, difficulty in reaching out for help, the need for victim advocacy, and how court proceedings work with victims against traffickers. They will also explore current federal and state laws and how their agencies work to combat human trafficking in Baton Rouge, LA through undercover operations, community outreach, law enforcement training, and hotel outreach. 

 

This webinar will provide participants with an understanding of:

The webinar is appropriate for anyone who is in a position to recognize or involved with efforts to combat human trafficking such as campus public safety officers and police, campus health center staff and providers, counseling center personnel, advocates, residential life staff, Title IX coordinators, and others. Beginners and those working at an intermediate level looking for a refresher will benefit from the presented material.  

 

For more information and to register, please visit our website.

Synthetic Cannabinoids

 

The New Haven Green in Connecticut, a 16-acre park located less than a mile away from Yale University's campus, was the location of 95 drug overdoses two weeks ago - 76 on Wednesday and 19 more on Thursday. Chief Anthony Campbell said that at least 10 people overdosed more than once and were transported by ambulance several times. At the peak of overdoses on Wednesday, 46 ambulances were responding to calls. Arrests have since been made of individuals believed to be involved in one way or another with the synthetic cannabinoid overdoses. Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement warning about the significant health risks of contaminated illegal synthetic cannabinoid products and several states have issued alerts and warnings on these products.

 

Synthetic cannabinoids are designer drugs intended to mimic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient of marijuana. However, the hundreds of known synthetic cannabinoid chemicals and THC are different. Synthetic cannabinoids may affect the brain in different and unpredictable ways compared to marijuana. Synthetic cannabinoids are not organic, rather they are generally found in bulk powder form, dissolved in solvents such as acetone, then applied to dry plant material. Because of the product's appearance, it is often marketed and sold as "herbal incense" or "potpourri" and typically labeled "not for human consumption." The ingredients and strength of products containing synthetic cannabinoids are almost impossible for the user to know and this makes them even more dangerous.

 

Synthetic cannabinoids are most commonly referred to as Spice or K2 and have several other street names including Blaze, RedX Dawn, Paradise, Demon, Black Magic, Spike, Mr. Nice Guy, Ninja, Zohai, Dream, Genie, Sence, Smoke, Skunk, Serenity, Yucatan, Fire, Crazy Clown. By labeling these products with exotic and extravagant names, drug manufacturers hope to appeal to and entice youth and young adults into using them. Typically, synthetic cannabinoids are smoked using a pipe, water pipe, or rolling the drug-laced plant material in cigarette papers. They can also be added to food, used to make a tea, or mixed into a liquid to be vaporized through electronic nicotine delivery devices such as e-cigarettes.

 

Synthetic cannabinoids can cause severe illness and death. They can affect brain function and signs and symptoms include agitation and irritability; confusion and concentration problems; hallucinations, delusions, psychosis, suicidal thoughts, and violent behavior; seizures; and sleepiness and dizziness. They can cause other health issues such as breathing or gastrointestinal problems; heart attack, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, and stroke; kidney failure; and muscle damage. These health problems depend on many factors, including the specific synthetic cannabinoid, the dose amount, and the duration of use. There is currently no medication to reverse a synthetic cannabinoid overdose, though studies on the use of Naloxone for this purpose have been conducted.

 

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