The following poem was written by our weekly writing group, The Green Walls Writer’s Project, in Zoom. Each person wrote a sentence about vaping and then we put them all together to form a powerful poem. 

I want to hold those sleek cool modern devices in my hand and seek comfort from the vapors

My breath becomes short as I inhale; small nails running down the length of my esophagus

A...

This post was written by a CSUCI student.

This is based off of an individual who I will call Jose. He was my boyfriend all through high school and after. Jose was nineteen years old when I met him and I was fifteen, he was a drug dealer that my friends used. Jose used methamphetamines and other narcotics. He often felt alone and depressed as he grew up. His parents worked multiple jobs as...

Written by Sofia Noriega, a Ventura County high school student.

Vaping can bring out the worst in you

It can turn your world around

Thinking that’s the only solution

For you to deal with problems

But it’s just causing addiction

And leading to bigger problems in the future.

Imagine your lungs,

Your heart,

Every organ in your body 

Keeping you alive, 

Only til you...

What can you do to help reduce drug overdoses in your community?

The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is coming up on Saturday, October 29th, 2022. Rx Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused...

Written by a senior at CSUCI.

My parents divorced when my sister and I were young. (I will refer to my sister as Janet). My mother, several years later, began dating a new man, let’s call him Dave. Dave had two children – I will refer to them as Samantha and Tom. Samantha was my sister’s age, and Tom was my age. We all became fast friends (we were 8 at the time) and enjoyed...

This information was originally published on Marijuana Factcheck, a project of Ventura County Behavioral Health. From their website: 

Everyone wants to make the best and most informed decisions they can, for themselves and their families. But decisions can only be as good as the facts they are based upon.

We’ve been hearing from a lot of people who would like to see a clear,...

This article is from Opioid Help, one of our community partners. From their website, “The world is facing an Opioid Epidemic that is unlike anything seen before. For this reason, Opioid Help has sought to be an extensive resource and community for information and support for people who have been affected by the prevalence of Opioids since 2019.” Visit their website and sign up for...

The first National Fentanyl Awareness Day was May 10, 2022, and was recognized by organizations across the U.S. including the DEA. It was created to address our national public health crisis of deaths and overdoses due to fentanyl use. People, especially young people, are ingesting illegally manufactured fentanyl without knowing it and dying at alarming rates as a result.

The statistics...

Two decades ago, a new generation of supposedly “safer and less addictive” painkillers triggered an epidemic of opioid abuse in the U.S. Since then, opioid overdoses have killed over 400,000 Americans. Now, more than half of opioid deaths are caused by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Beyond the death toll, at least 2 million Americans have become addicted.

U.S. deaths from...

This post was written by a CSUCI student. 

E-cigarettes, vape pens, and JUULs have become a popular trend among high school students because of their sleek designs, multiple flavors, and the fact that they are easy to hide from parents and teachers. Even adults are getting into this trend because these devices are often marketed as a safe alternative to smoking, even though there is no...

This post was written by a CSUCI student. 

Through working with BRITE, I’ve been able to reflect on my own experiences involving drug and alcohol abuse. By bringing awareness to these dangerous activities, I’ve been able to get a better understanding of why underage kids and even my own siblings participate in them. I wasn’t able to help or essentially persuade my...