This week, we recognize the annual Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week takes place each year from October 23 through 31st.
The Origins of Red Ribbon Week
The Red Ribbon Campaign™ is led by the National Family Partnership, formerly the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth. NFP has been promoting youth drug use prevention for more than 40 years.
In 1985, Enrique Camarena, an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was murdered by drug traffickers. In the years that followed, the red ribbon became a symbol of the dedication within communities to raise awareness about the destruction of drugs.
This video by the DEA is a brief summary of Red Ribbon Week’s significance:
How to Recognize Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is a great opportunity for parents, teachers, educators, and community organizations to raise awareness about substance use.
The easiest way? Wear a red ribbon this week to honor Agent Camarena’s sacrifice and serve as a conversation starter for those who notice.
Some other ways to recognize Red Ribbon Week include:
- Take part in drug awareness events, whether in-person in your community or virtually. Visit RedRibbon.org for a guide on Red Ribbon Week events.
- Promote Red Ribbon Week to your social media followers to signal your support for living drug-free. If you post a photo with the hashtags #CelebrateLifeLiveDrugFree and #RedRibbonWeek, you could even win an Amazon gift card from the National Family Partnership.
- Talk to the people in your life, especially kids and young adults, about substance use. The best place to begin making a difference is in your own home. Do you need a place to start? See AZZLY®’s article about youth substance use facts for National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month. National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month runs concurrently to Red Ribbon Week in the month of October.
The theme of Red Ribbon Week 2022 is “Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free.” This theme was created by Emily King, Chelsea Abbott, and Celise Wicker, 7th graders at Wayland-Cohocton Middle School in Wayland, New York. “Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free.” is a reminder that everyday Americans across the country make significant daily contributions to their communities by being the best they can be because they live drug-free.
Take the Red Ribbon Pledge
One final way to recognize Red Ribbon Week is encouraging kids to take the Red Ribbon Pledge. The Red Ribbon Pledge is a commitment to stay in school, be the best you can be, and live your life drug-free.
About AZZLY®
At AZZLY®, we are grateful to work with mental health and addiction treatment providers who put evidence-based treatment practices into place every day. We support these providers with an all-in-one electronic health record (EHR), patient management (PM), and revenue cycle management solution called AZZLY Rize™. A “purpose built” EHR.
We developed AZZLY Rize with the input of mental health and addiction treatment professionals to create a system that truly served the needs of their healthcare specialty. AZZLY Rize is the ideal solution for both abstinence-based and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs, with the option to support Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) such as buprenorphine and methadone. Schedule a time to speak with an AZZLY Expert to see if AZZLY Rize could be right for you, or fill out this brief form to see some short demos. We are available any time at hello@azzly.com or 1 (888) 400-3201 to answer any questions.
