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Highlights


Child Danger: Almost Half of Parents Have Leftover Meds at Home


Halloween Drinking Statistics


12,000 Fentanyl Pills Seized in Candy Wrappers at LAX, sparking Halloween Warning


Halloween Do's and Don't Tips


In The News

Child Danger: Almost Half of Parents Have Leftover Meds at Home

By Cara Murez, HealdDay Reporter

"Getting into prescription or over-the-counter medicines at home is a major source of accidental poisoning for young children.


Yet, nearly half of parents say they have leftover prescriptions at home, a new poll shows.


We found that it's common for parents to keep medicines long after they are expired or no longer needed, which creates an unnecessary health risk for children," said Sarah Clark. Younger children getting into medicine in the home is a major source of unintentional poisoning. For older children, access to these medicines brings risk of experimentation, diversion to peers, or other intentional misuse," Clark said in a university news release.


While more than 60% of parents said they are more careful about disposing leftover prescriptions than over-the-counter medication, most also believe it's important to properly dispose of expired or leftover medicine to prevent children from getting into the medicine and to protect the environment. But many still didn't know where to put it."



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Halloween Drinking Statistics

By Renee Deveney of The Recovery Village

"The amount of drinking that occurs at a college Halloween party is rather startling. According to Halloween drinking statistics found in one study, college students who consume alcohol on Halloween report drinking on average, 6.3 alcoholic beverages, which is 1.4 more than they ordinarily consume on a weekend night.


This finding is troubling because the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as occurring after four drinks for women and five for men over the course of several hours, so college students are likely engaging in binge drinking on Halloween.


A second study found that among all the holidays, Halloween ranked number five in terms of the amount of alcohol consumed. Men reported drinking an average of four drinks on Halloween, whereas women reported consuming almost three on average. Even troubling is the fact that 9.3% of men and 6.6% of women reported they have blacked out from drinking on Halloween."


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12,000 Fentanyl Pills Seized in Candy Wrappers at LAX, Sparking Halloween Warning to Parents

By ABC7 Staff

"LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Authorities are again warning parents about the possibility of drugs mixed in with candy this Halloween after a big fentanyl bust at LAX. Someone tried to get through security at Los Angeles International Airport with bags of candy that contained some 12,000 pills of fentanyl early Wednesday morning.


The opioid pills were contained inside packages of Skittles, Whoppers, and SweeTarts candy. The drugs were seized by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents assigned to a task force at the airport.


The suspect managed to flee but has been identified. The bust sparked new calls for parents to be cautious this Halloween about candy their children bring home. There have been multiple reports this year of fentanyl manufactured in rainbow colors or disguised in candy wrappers."


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What's Happening at Coalition Rx?

Too Good For Drugs and Violence Presentations, Programming, and More!

This month, some of our friends at Elkhorn Middle School learned about the importance of decision-making with Chief Deputy Wayne Hudson, Carey, and her special guest, Sebastian! They also learned why it is important to be substance-free.


Adolescents who are equipped with decision-making and problem-solving skills are more likely to make confident, healthy decisions, and also avoid negative consequences.


Thank you to the Rotary Club of Blair and Detective Josh Hatheway for having an insightful conversation about how to keep our youth safe with the latest on rainbow fentanyl and the opioid crisis.

Our special guest, Sebastian, stopped by to help teach our friends at Offutt Youth Programs about making healthy choices and how to properly manage stress!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to drop off their unneeded or expired medication at our DEA drug takeback!


And big thanks to the Ralston Police Department!

The Wellness Initiative for Senior Education Program

Some of our WISE participants had an engaging conversation about addiction and how it impacts your body and life, with Dr. DeSimone.


The More You Know

Looking Forward
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Help Reduce the Misuse of Substances of Abuse
Founded in 2015, our mission is to reduce the misuse of all substances of abuse by raising awareness and partnering with community organizations to provide public and professional education, prevention and treatment resources, and policy advocacy.
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Carey Pomykata

Co-Founder/Executive Director

(402) 871-5622

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