COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new campaign is hoping conversations with our state's youth will help curb drug use amongst the youngest population.
Ashley Bodiford, the director of prevention at LRADAC, a substance misuse treatment center, says youth in our state are picking up unhealthy habits, and addictions at remarkably young ages. She says, "In South Carolina, our average [age] for first experimentation is around 12-13 years old so that's like a seventh or eighth grader."
It's an issue that Ava Dean, a mother with a student in middle school says she hears about on a regular basis. "Fentanyl is out there and they're trying it. It's being laced with everything. As far as vaping, they're putting these liquids in those pods and stuff. If we don't get ahead of it, as a parent, believe me, those students are going to let your child try it ahead of you," she says.
The Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services says in South Carolina 23% of surveyed students in 9th through 12th grade admit to drinking alcohol in the past month and 47% say they've tried electronic vapor products. According to data from SCDHEC, the number of drug overdose deaths in South Carolina doubled between the years 2017 and 2021.
"Kids are experiencing mental health and substance use crisis, we know that. It's making itself evident in schools and to get ahead of that we have to we do primary prevention, we have to stop it before it starts." Says DAODAS director Sara Goldsby. She tells News19 it's the motivation behind a new state-wide campaign aimed called Open Conversations.
"[we] built a foundation of helping parents, caregivers, grandparents and those folks who are really spending time with kids feel comfortable talking with them about the issues they face," Goldsby says.
She tells us starting Wednesday local television stations will play PSA commercials about conversations with kids, and point them to a website with activities and resources focused on talking about drug use.
Dean says she's on board for the new idea, saying, "They are trying it, it's peer pressure, why not? If you don't have the conversation with them, someone else is going to, or someone else has already done it."
Bodiford also gives this advice for having these conversations with the kids in your life, "Be honest, be truthful, be factual. Don't try to use scare tactics, or make people think that if you do this, then this will happen, it's more about 'we're here for you, we want to talk to you, we want to encourage you to be safe, and here are ways to do that."