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DrugWatch.com is a comprehensive Web site database featuring
extensive information about thousands of different medications and
drugs currently on the market or previously available worldwide.
DrugWatch.com includes up-to-date information about prescription and
over-the-counter medications and includes details about associated
side effects to aid in the protection of patients and consumers.
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YOUTH AND ALCOHOL |
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Every year, about 1,900 people under 21 die from car crashes
involving underage drinking. |
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In a survey of teen drinkers, 65 percent said they got alcohol from
family members or friends. |
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What you can do to prevent underage drinking, at
www.dontserveteens.gov |
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Women & Alcohol |
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IN THE SHADOW OF ALCOHOLISM:
WOMEN AND ALCOHOL -
Click here
to view ABC news story "Confessions of a Female Alcoholic |
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The American Medicine Chest Challenge provides a unified national, statewide, and local focus to the issue of medicine abuse by children and teens. It is designed to generate unprecedented media attention to the issue of prescription and over-the-counter medicine abuse and to challenge all Americans to take the 5 Step American Medicine Chest Challenge:
Take inventory of your prescription and over-the-counter medicine. Secure your medicine. Please visit OTCsafety.org for more information. Dispose of your unused, unwanted, and expired medicine in your home or at an American Medicine Chest Challenge Disposal site. Take your medicine(s) exactly as prescribed. Please visit PhRMA for more information. Talk to your children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse... they are listening. For tips visit The Partnership at DrugFree.Org, NIDA, and StopMedicinceAbuse.com.
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December 21, 2011:
Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery
colleagues ~ This is a really clever
30-second PSA for the holidays. Check it out
and share with others if you like. Thanks,
Sandy.
Santa's reindeer are grounded for drinking.
Tispy, buzzed or Blitzen? Let someone else
guide your sleigh tonight. Plan a sober
ride.
Reindeer Barn
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We had a wonderful gratitude
meeting this year - "The Importance of Story
in Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Recovery." A nice Early Thanksgiving meal
and recovery stories from four great
speakers who shared their experience,
strength, and hope with us all! We presented
two awards this year: Volunteer of the Year
went to Teresa Garcia of Volunteers of
America, and Champion Supporter went to Kay
Crockett. To those of you who know these two
women, it should come as no surprise that
they were recipients of these awards. Thanks
to all who attended, shared their stories,
helped with the meal, and/or purchased the
lovely mum plants! Sandy
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July 15, 2011 - Second Annual Community
Awareness Day - Drug Supply/Drug Demand:
Working Together for Change. We had a
wonderful conference at Rice University in
which we partnered with the Drug Enforcement
Admininstration, the Houston-Harris County
Office of Drug Policy (Houston Crackdown),
and the James A. Baker III Institute for
Public Policy at Rice University. This
all-day workshop offered the latest
information on our local drug challenges and
what we are doing about them. Topics
included:
- Introductory remarks
by William Martin, Ph.D.
- Prescription for
danger: The rise of "pain clinics"
- Drug trafficking and
its impact on the Houston community
- Drug endangered
children: Who and where are they?
- Interrupting the
Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline
- Harris County drug
courts: Substance abuse, mental health,
and family recovery
- Recovery Oriented
Systems of Care.
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Conference
participants
enjoyed
the
wide
variety
of
topics
and
all
of
the
outstanding
speakers,
as
well
as
the wonderful
venue
for
this
event.
We
were
honored
to
be
able
to
work
with
the
DEA,
HHCODP,
and
the
Baker
Institute
to
make
this
event
available
to
our
community!
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UPCOMING
EVENT - Friday, August 12, 2011 from 8:30 AM
to Noon - Forum on Cooperation with the
12-Step Communities at The Council on
Alcohol and Drugs Houston, 303 Jackson Hill,
Houston TX 77007. Click
here to access invitation details.
Twelve-step mutual support groups represent
one of the many great recovery resources
that we have here in the Houston area. We
hope that you will be able to attend this
important Forum on strengthening bridges to
and from area 12-step communities and other
agencies. Representatives from AA, NA, and
CA who are experienced at the general
service level will be sharing about their
work and traditions, and how we can best
cooperate with them on behalf of people
seeking or in recovery. |
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To register, just go to
www.council-houston.org or click
here for a direct link. |
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Posted 2/18/11 - Out and About! Kay Crockett
has more energy than anyone I know to get
out for meet and greet and other networking
activities in the community. Of course, this
event involved chocolate, which may have
been the true motivator for accepting an
invitation. Communities in Schools hosted a
lovely Valentine's Day mixer last night
complete with chocolate bar and jazz and
lots of interesting people. CIS is just one
of the many amazing organizations we have
gotten to know in our community that work to
make a positive difference in the lives of
kids. |
| Kay Crockett with Coalition
of Behavioral Health Services, Ann Harvey
with The Art Institutes, Carla Leavelle with
Heartspring Methodist Foundation and Sylvia
Ocampo with Harris County District Clerk |
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January 7,
2010 - Mercy Street is expanding its
ministry, launching a second non-traditional
church service at The Council on Alcohol and
Drugs Houston. A "Super Sunday" Community
Kick-Off Event will be held at The Council
auditorium (303 Jackson Hill, Houston TX
77007) on Sunday, February 6, 2011. Click
here for more information. |
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Tuesday, November
9, 2010 - At our gratitude meeting
on Tuesday, we recognized IntraCare
Behavioral Health as the agency
Volunteer of the Year for 2010.
IntraCare has provided continuing
education credits for our monthly
seminars without cost to the
Coalition for several years, and
whenever we send out a plea for
assistance, IntraCare always
responds with a contribution of
funds and/or support. Randy Thomas,
Director of Social Services,
accepted the award on behalf of
IntraCare. Thank you to the
IntraCare organization for being an
amazingly generous community
partner! |
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Tuesday, November
9, 2010 - We also recognized an
individual Volunteer of the Year for
2010 at our gratitude meeting. Eddie
deRoulet has been a steady, strong,
supportive member of the Coalition
for many years, and currently also
serves on the Board of Directors.
Eddie seems to always be present
when there's work to be done or
in-kind support needed, and has been
most generous with financial
contributions as well. For me
personally, as the Coalition
Director, I have found Eddie to be a
great support when times are
challenging, as he has a presence
that is at once calming and
energizing. You are appreciated by
all of the organizations that are
blessed to have you involved, but
I'm sure none more than the
Coalition. No one deserves this
award more than you do. Thanks for
being exactly who you are! |
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I wanted to announce that
the Coalition was honored on October 28,
2010 with a 2010 Community Stars award for
our work in the community. There will be a
billboard in Spring Branch in the
Coalition's name (prototype included in
photos attached). The Drug Enforcement
Administration, Houston Crackdown-Office of
the Mayor (also known as Houston-Harris
County Office of Drug Policy) and Clear
Channel Communications, sponsor the annual
“Community Stars” recognition program. The
program is designed to recognize and honor
organizations, coalitions, educational
institutions, law enforcement agencies, and
individuals that are educating, preventing,
treating and enforcing the efforts to reduce
the problem and effect of substance use in
their communities. Enjoy a few
pictures, and thanks so much for your ongoing support!
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - We were
enlightened today about proposed budget cuts
to be presented before the 82nd Legislature.
Amanda Jones, Legislative Coordinator for
the Harris County Office of Legislative
Relations, provided a summary of proposed
budget adjustments for both mental health
and substance abuse services, and how this
could affect the behavioral health picture
here in Harris County. While the picture was
not rosy, Ms. Jones also shared a
well-considered alternative approach to
address the systems dilemma that we
face--one that offsets current cost drivers
with cost-effective, community-delivered
services and supports, based upon the needs
of each person's unique situation using a
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services
Waiver model. To see her Power Point
presentation, click
HERE. |
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Monday, September 27, 2010. We had a
wonderful Family Day Dinner event this year!
We had close to 40 volunteers helping all
evening and157 guests. The meal, donated by
Guadalajara Hacienda, was really delicious.
We had our wonderful emcee, Maria Corrales,
back again this year. We gave a "Family of
the Year" award this year for the first
time, to the Salas family from St.
Christopher's Episcopal Church. All families
received photographs of their family and
goodie bags with zoo tickets, McDonald's
coupons, electronic Monopoly games,
Children's Museum passes, and other goodies!
We had wonderful entertainment, a
ventriloquist/puppeteer who entertained both
the kids and the adults! Brenda Stardig,
Council Member for City of Houston District
A, presented the Coalition, the Spring
Branch Management District (a key event
sponsor), and Guadalajara Hacienda
restaurant with a City of Houston
Certificate of Appreciation. |
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It was a magical evening, but most
importantly, we were able to send the
message that the more often kids eat dinner
with their parents, the less likely they are
to smoke, drink, and take other drugs!
Click here for more photos.
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Thirty of the 39 event
volunteers! |
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Saturday,
September 25, 2010 - The DEA medication
take-back event was a hit nationwide! Our
one site (one of 3,700 across the country)
was a great success also! Our partners, the
Harris County Constable's Office Precincts 1
and 5, and the Houston Community College
Spring Branch Campus, were absolutely
wonderful! We had media attention from
Channel 11, the Houston Chronicle (go to
on-line article
HERE), and
the Memorial Examiner. Several Drug
Enforcement Administration staffers dropped
by our location as well as a supervisor from
the Harris County Constable's office, along
with a steady stream of area residents
dropping off medications. We don't yet know
how many pounds of pharmaceuticals our site
collected, but over the 17 Houston-area
sites, 3,000 pounds were logged. This
included liquids, pills, salves, syringes,
and a couple of things I couldn't identify!
Click here for some pictures for your
enjoyment. Thanks to all of you for your
wonderful support of our work in this area! |
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Prescription medication issues – Resources
for you.
Suzy Reierson, LPC, LCDC, CEAP, gave a
wonderful presentation at our meeting on
Tuesday, September 14, 2010, regarding
prescription medication use and misuse. She
suggested a very good website,www.painEDU.org,to
learn more about medication management for
pain. Check it out if you are interested.
Suzy was
also kind enough to share her Power Point
from her presentation. The slides include
all the research background information she
provided, plus the last few slides in her
presentation include "Tips for Treatment"
that are valuable. Click
here to access the Power Point.
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August 10, 2010 – PSYCHOLOGICAL
FIRST AID (PFA). At our August
Coalition meeting, Robert Stakem,
Susan McFarland, and Clemelia
Richardson provided a wonderful
overview of the City of Houston’s
and Harris County’s collaborative
PFA Volunteer Responder program and
the eight Core Actions of PFA. To
see the PowerPoint presentation from
the meeting, click
here.
Psychological First Aid is designed
to reduce the initial distress
caused by traumatic events and to
foster short- and long-term adaptive
functioning and coping. If you are
interested in joining this Volunteer
Responder Team, you can apply
on-line at:
http://www.houstontx.gov/health/pfa.html
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| June 8, 2010
- We had a fantastic tribute and
presentation to Chelsea Powers
on Tuesday. Earl Littman, founder of
the Drugs Kill Campaign, was the perfect
presenter, and the family couldn't have been
nicer. Dawn Mathis with the DEA was at the
meeting, and there is a chance
that Chelsea may be going to
Washington DC to serve as an
ambassador for Drugs Kill! Again, thanks
to all of you who helped to raise the funds
to present Chelsea with a scholarship
assistance check as a reward for staying
drug and alcohol free throughout her
school years! Sandy
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Chelsea Powers, Ft. Bend ISD graduating
senior was presented with a
college scholarship from the
Coalition of
Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) for
remaining Drug Free for the entire 12 years
that she was in school. Chelsea was part of
the Drugs Kill Program in Ft Bend ISD.
Chelsea signed her Drug Free Pledge in May,
1999 while in kindergarten. Pictured with
her are her parents, Steve and Jackie Powers
and Earl Littman, past executive director of
CBHS and founder of the program |
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Photo Courtesy of David Grice
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Dinner Makes
a Difference!
More than a decade of
research by
The National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia
University has consistently
found that the more often kids eat
dinner with their families, the less
likely they are to smoke, drink or
use drugs.
The National
Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University's
Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner
with Your ChildrenTM,
sponsored by Stouffers is a
national movement launched in 2001
that promotes the parental
engagement fostered during frequent
family dinners as a simple,
effective way to prevent substance
abuse in Kids. Family Day's
10th Anniversary will be celebrated
across the country on September
27th, 2010.
To learn more
about Family Day and to
join parents all across America in
taking the Family Day STAR
pledge, log on to
www.CASAFamilyDay.org. To learn
more about the new book How to Raise
A Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope
for Parents, visit
www.straightdopeforparents.org
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May 21, 2010 - WONDERFUL RESOURCE FOR
LOCAL DATA ON SUBSTANCE USE! Click
here for a list of research published through
the end of 2009 that includes samples relating to
the Houston area. Michael Ross, Professor of Public
Health at the University of Texas School of Public
Health in Houston (with special thanks to Syed Noor
for his work) compiled this list of over 80 research
citations. Thank you, Dr. Ross, for your magnificent
work as Chair of the Houston-Harris County Office of
Drug Policy Data and Communications Committee! This
is a wonderful and needed resource. Thanks also to
Ray Andrews for his commitment to ensuring that the
Urgency of Now! 5-year strategic plan is realized.
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April 13, 2010 -
"Dismantling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline in
Houston and Texas: A Study of Solutions" - John
Burruss, M.D., Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
at Baylor College of Medicine, provided an engaging
explanation of the key forces driving this
"pipeline." He also pointed to local assets and
resources that are in part addressing the root
causes and conditions that continue to lead our
youth into the pipeline, followed by a discussion of
what we can do as individuals to make a difference.
Please take a moment to review Dr. Burruss's Power
Point presentation by clicking
here.
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March 9, 2010 - We had a wonderful
Coalition meeting today! Dr. Steve
Schnee, Executive Director of
MHMRA of Harris County, was
generous enough to offer his time to
share his views with us on the
integration of
substance abuse and
mental health services, talk
about some of the key challenges
currently facing
Harris County, and express a
desire to partner with community
providers and other stakeholders to
create a more vital and effective
service and support system. At the
meeting, we also talked about one
particular model of integrated
behavioral health that has been adopted
in Philadelphia PA, and had planned to
show a brief video but ran short on
time, so we are putting the link here.
Go to http://www.dbhmrs.org/transformation-video to see
this video and get a sense of the
recovery-oriented systems of care model
that Philadelphia, under the Direction
of
Arthur Evans, has implemented.
The film is about 10 minutes long.
Thank you all for your continuing
interest and support in the Coalition!
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February 2, 2010 - The Coalition
presented a certificate from the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
to Roland Laurenzo for his generous
donation of a delicious breakfast
and lunch for all the participants
at the January 20, 2010 Meth360,
Parent360, Youth360, and Latino360
trainings. Mr. Laurenzo truly
embodies what it means to be a
community-minded business leader.
Thank you so much! |
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Partnership for a Drug-Free
America 360 Community Education Programs
training - We had a wonderful day of
training on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 with
a morning session for Spanish-speaking
community members and an expanded afternoon
session in English. Over 100 participants
attended the morning session and another
100+ took part in the afternoon session.
The training focused on equipping
participants with information and tools to
help prevent and reduce substance abuse in
their own families and in their
neighborhoods and communities. Feedback
from participants was outstanding and the
Coalition was glad to have been able to
partner with the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America to bring this wonderful training to
Houston. For related press coverage, go to:
click here. |
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VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
At our December
2009 Coalition meeting, the
Coalition recognized the amazing
contribution of time, energy, and
talent of Sheila Hunt, Coalition
member and Board director. Sheila is
the Director of Community Education
for IntraCare Hospital, but somehow
manages to find time to support the
Coalition in a number of important
ways. She has been instrumental in
the Coalition's growth over this
past year, and for all these reasons
has been named our 2009 VOLUNTEER OF
THE YEAR. Thank you, Sheila!
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November 10,
2009 Coalition meeting - We had an awesome
meeting on November 10th, complete with a
delicious Thanksgiving meal and a recovery
theme. George Joseph of The Right Step
as moderator, along with presenters Ashley
Montondon from NAMI, Randy Jo Baker from The
House of Extra Measures, Armando Lopez from
Cheyenne Center. The descent of mental
illness and addiction is often described but
the recovery is not, so we had a wonderful
series of stories that left us all feeling
hopeful that we can be of service and
witness healing and growth and change in
people whom others may have given up on.
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Next Meeting
Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Click
here for more information.
Our Mission
The Coalition of Behavioral Health Services is a broad-based
community coalition and 501(c)(3) organization made up of over 75
organizations and individuals.
Our mission is to raise awareness, provide education, and partner
with community sectors to prevent and reduce the problem and effects
of substance abuse and related mental and physical health disorders
in the Greater Houston area.
We connect and involve stakeholders from all walks of life to work
together to improve local policy and practice and to increase public
and private resources to our area. We do this by increasing
awareness, providing education, mobilizing local communities,
advocating for improved services and supports, and collaborating
with others on projects that forward our mission.
Please join us in our work to create a better future for the Greater
Houston community!
Contact
For more information about CBHS contact:
Sandy Olson
501 Garden Oaks Blvd.
Houston, TX 77018
713-426-2637 ext .4511
281-830-8665 cell
713-862-1849 Fax
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