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NEWS
Summit addresses substance abuse
CHARLESTON -- Residents and health experts from across the state met Tuesday in Charleston in a fight against substance abuse.
West Virginia's 17th Annual Statewide Substance Abuse Prevention Conference got under way at the Charleston Civic Center with workshops and a keynote address from Frances Harding, director of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. The conference continues Wednesday and will include a session on prescription drug abuse.
Anne McGee, director of the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, was one of many people in attendance. This year, she said the annual conference seemed to focus more on strengthening community partnerships.
"People come to the table with different levels of knowledge. It makes me feel like we are on the right track in Cabell County, and it's encouraging to see communities from all over the state working toward the same goal," McGee said.
On Tuesday, people from many different fields split into groups for workshop sessions and talked about community efforts.
Prevention has been a hot topic in the state this week, and McGee also attended Gov. Joe Manchin's drug summit on Monday in Charleston. At that summit, Manchin joined members of the West Virginia Partnership to Promote Community Well-being and representatives of state and local governments and communities.
McGee said all of the discussion is exciting.
"It gives you a lot of inspiration," she said.
Efforts by the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership started less than four years ago, she said.
"Prevention is about changing community norms. In Cabell County, we so often focus on the very dramatic or very violent consequences of substance abuse," McGee said. "We know that, and science shows us that, if we focus on the prevention end of things -- changing the way our society views alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, which is a much harder task -- we can make a better investment of our time and energy and money. It's far more expensive to treat and incarcerate a drug problem than to prevent it in the first place."
