March 2023
CARTER COUNTY CONNECTS |
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Hello coalition members,
Our CCDP February 2023 highlights include:
- We welcomed Meagan Fisher as our Drug Free Communities and PEAK Mentorship Program Director and Brooke Shy as our Executive Administrative Assistant! We are so excited to have them as part of our team.
- We celebrated Tia's one year anniversary with CCDP!
- We had a great few days in Nashville for PAT Day on the Hill. (see pictures in youth coalition section)
- We celebrated with Recovery Resources at their very successful Polar Plunge (Picture below: Josh Johnson, CCDP Board Member; Meagan Fisher, Tia Highes, Jilian Reece, Scott Stodola, CCDP Board Member and Ashlee Williams, CCDP Board Chair)
- Regional Overdose Prevention Specialist (ROPS) Kahla Cobb and I presented Narcan, stigma and ACEs training to the Physical Therapy Services Early Intervention team. We are grateful to them for having us!
- Nash worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Elizabethton/Carter County to offer Narcan training with our ROPS for club students, parents and staff (see picture below)
- We hosted Aftenposten, a Norwegian newspaper and were able to introduce them to some of our amazing partners and interview them for the Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore podcast.
Thanks to everyone who continues to support us in any way! We are grateful for the way that you walk alongside us to make an impact on substance use issues in our community.
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Are you a member of the CCC? If not, you should be!
The Carter County Collaborative is a comprehensive collaboration between organizations, people, and businesses for the purpose of creating a healthy Carter County. The CCC plans and executes public events, campaigns, and maintains a community needs assessment through separate committees. This collaborative meets every first Thursday of the month from 12-1:30pm and is open to the public. This meeting also serves as the monthly coalition meeting for Carter County Drug Prevention.
Vision: Carter County Collaborative is a comprehensive collaboration among organizations, people, and businesses for the purpose of making Carter County the healthiest in Tennessee.
Mission: The Carter County Collaborative facilitates member meetings, public events and campaigns, and maintains a County Needs Assessment and County Health Improvement Plan.
Values: Collaboration, Awareness, Representation, Leadership, Compassion, Community
Check out the 2022-23 Strategic Plan here: CCC Strategic Plan
To become a member, click here.
Everyone is welcome!
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March CCC Meeting
March 2nd
Virtual: Join Zoom @ 12pm
Meeting will end no later than 1:30pm
Speakers:
Tyler Wright, TDH Northeast Regional Health Office
and
Paezha McCartt, Ballad Health's Office of Population Health
Committees will meet in breakout rooms following the speaker. Participants are welcome to join any committee at any time!
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Committee (Committee A) Goal:
This committee will focus on stigma reduction, education, and community outreach through community partnerships, trainings, and events.
Community Action & Awareness Committee (Committee B) Goal:
Provide information, resources, and support with energy, boldness, and strength, to those in the community.
Community Assessment Committee (Committee C) Goal:
Collect and organize data and provide it in an accessible way to CCC members, to assign leadership roles as needed to manage specific projects, to develop a current community resource hub that is as updated as possible, and to develop a community narrative concerning the county’s historical health.
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Our March Outstanding Coalition Partner is
Boys & Girls Club of Elizabethton/Carter County
In the Fall of 2021, Nash Acuna connected with administration at the Boys and Girls Club of Elizabethton/Carter County in the hopes of starting a new program called "Checking In." Director, Shelly Parham and Teen Director, Nicole Hensley were welcoming and opened the doors to this new opportunity for CCDP to reach local kids with the message that abstaining from substance use is the right path for their futures.
Since it's inception, this partnership has grown and flourished. For Drug Take Back Day 2022, they allowed us the use of their parking lot, where we collected over 75lbs of prescription medications. In January, the club hosted us, allowing Kahla Cobb from SCAD to give several teens, parents and community members Family Narcan Training. In February, our teens wrote letters of encouragement of participants at DRC who are working through their recovery. In March, we will focus on healthy lifestyles including organic gardening and alcohol use prevention. Nicole and Shelly have been incredibly supportive to new ideas and give us great feedback on areas of growth for the program going forward.
We are so proud to be aligned with this amazing group of leaders who are making a daily positive impact on the children in our community.
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Our March Outstanding Coalition Member is:
Jenny Jones
Carter County Schools
We are so grateful for Jenny and the way she supports us. We would not have been able to collect TN Together survey data for Carter County Schools without her help!
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February 2023 Arrest Data
*Data Provided by Carter County Sheriff's Department & Elizabethton Police Department through https://carter-911-tn.zuercherportal.com/#/inmates.
Ages
12-21 - 1
22-30 - 0
31-40 - 3
41-50 - 0
51-60 - 1
61-70 - 0
71 and up - 0
Unknown ages - 1
Gender
Male - 6
Female - 0
Violations
DUI - 0
Underage DUI - 0
Public Intoxication - 2
Underage Consumption - 0
Sale to Minors or Intoxicated Persons- 1
Drug Paraphernalia - 0
Violation of Implied Conscent Law - 0
Manufacture, Delivery, Sale or Possession of Methamphetamine - 2
Possession of Cocaine or Methamphetamine w/ deadly weapon - 0
Maintaining a Dwelling - 0
Possession of Handgun (Under the Influence) - 0
Introduction of Contraband into a Penal Institution - 0
Possession of Legend Drug without a Prescription - 1
Simple Possession/Casual Exchange - 0
Falsification of Drug Test - 0
Open Conainer - 0
Contributing to the Deliquency of a Minor - 0
Schedule I - 0
Schedule II - 1
Schedule III - 1
Schedule IV - 1
Schedule V - 1
Schedule VI - 0
9-1-1 Calls For Service
DUI - 9
Possible Drugs - 7
Overdose/Poisoning - 4
Public Intoxication - 7
Suicide/Attempt/Threat - 6
Psychiatric/ Abnormal Behavior/ Suicide Attempt - 1
Mentally Disturbed - 0 |
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Effects of Substances on the Brain
Alcohol
- Alcohol interferes with the brain's communication pathways.
- Alcohol makes it harder for the brain to control balance,memory, speech & judgement.
- Long term alcohol use reduces the size of neurons in the brain.
- Alcohol causes blackouts (gaps in memory of events that occur while intoxicated). Gaps happen when enough alcohol blocks the transfer of memories from short term to long term storage in the hippocampus.
- When too much alcohol gets into the bloodstream it effects the areas of the brain controlling basic life-support functions such as breathing, heart rate, and temperature control.
- Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause brain damage to the baby leading to developmental cognitive, and behavorial problems tha can appear at any time during childhood.
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Tobacco
- Nicotine changes the way synapses are formed, which can harm the parts of the brain that control attention and learning.
- Each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells.
- The nicotine in e-cigarettes and other tobacco products can also prime the adolescent brain for addiction to other drugs such as cocaine.
- Nicotine exposure during adolescence, a critical period for brain development, can cause addiction and can harm the developing brain.
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Marijuana
- When a person smokes marijuana, THC quickly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream.
- The blood carries the chemical to the brain and effects are felt between 30 minutes and 1 hour after smoking.
- THC acts on specific brain cell receptors that play a role in normal brain development and function.
- Marijuana over activates parts of the brain that contain the highest number of these receptors.
- Marijuana also affects brain development by impairing thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds
connections between the areas necessary for these functions.
- Long-term marijuana use has been linked to mental illness in some people, such as: temporary hallucinations,temporary paranoia, worsening symptoms in patients with schizophrenia—a severe mental disorder with symptoms such as hallucinations, paranoia, and disorganized thinking.
- Marijuana use has also been linked to other mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts amoung teens.
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Opioids
- According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, long-term use of opioids causes changes to the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe of the brain.
- These areas of the brain affect nearly every aspect of life, from social interactions to the way we process and store memories.
- Poor regulation of one’s behaviors;
- Impaired emotional processes;
- Memory impairment;
- Diminished flexibility regarding tasks;
- Flawed reasoning skills;
- Poor problem-solving skills;
- Decreased ability to plan;
- Impaired decision-making skills;
- Decreased ability to imagine future events and interactions.
- Opioids are highly addictive, in large part because they activate powerful reward centers in your brain.
- Opioids trigger the release of endorphins, your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters.
- Endorphins muffle your perception of pain and boost feelings of pleasure, creating a temporary but powerful sense of well-being.
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February Youth Coalition Updates:
- Some of our youth coalition members participated in PAT Day on the Hill. See photos below with Senator Jon Lundberg and Representative John Holsclaw.
- Aftenposten, Norway's largest printed newspaper visited with some youth coalition members over dinner to learn about their work. See photo below.
- Thanks to Elizabethton Parks & Rec for hosting Glow in the Dark Dodgeball in February. Join us in March if you missed the first event!
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This project is funded in part by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. |
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