The next meeting of the community safety group will be on Monday, March 11 at the Hazen Union School library from 6:30-8pm.
One of the issues that has come up in each of our meetings, very much including the last one on Jan. 22, is drug education and prevention in schools as a critical piece of the overall addiction/crime conversation. While there are many layers in what can feel like an overwhelming set of problems, direct and positive action can be taken in schools and other community settings that could have meaningful impacts right away and long term. And especially if kids are invited to be directly involved in the projects.
We've often discussed how we can come up with specific actions to help address the many concerns expressed in our meetings. This is an area where we can work together to create specific projects that can be taken into the schools and community and that pulls together the varied resources and strengths and talents of people concerned about and working directly on drug addiction/crime issues.
Our next meeting will focus on ideas for bringing more education and prevention efforts into the schools. We invite school personnel, students, treatment and recovery professionals, enforcement officials, citizens, and anyone else who would like to contribute to this conversation.