Seeing Red

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ethan Morgan
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England --  A huge dose of drug awareness, laced heavily with a 'Say No to Drugs' message will be widespread during Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon week is the nation's oldest and largest drug prevention program and runs from Oct. 21 to 28. Each year it reaches millions of Americans and is hosted the last week of October.

"We all know someone whose life was cut short or ruined by tobacco, alcohol, prescription drug misuse or illegal drugs," said Mike Dubroff, 100th Air Refueling Wing Drug Demand Reduction program manager. "If even one child in the future says no to drugs from what was learned during Red Ribbon Week, then the activity was worth the effort."

Red Ribbon Week was started when Special Agent Kiki Camarena, an 11-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Agency, was assigned to Guadalajara, Mexico, and came extremely close to solving the case a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline of marijuana and cocaine in Mexico. On Feb. 7, 1985, Agent Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers, opening the eyes of many Americans to the dangers of drugs and the international scope of the drug trade.

The first observance of the week was coordinated in 1988 by the National Family Partnership, with President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan serving as honorary chairpersons.

Today, Red Ribbon Week can be recognized by wearing a red ribbon, organizing drug-free events, decorating buildings in red and publicizing a drug-free healthy lifestyle.

"It's always great when we get the chance to educate our kids, especially when it pertains to something that can have such a harmful impact on their lives," said Jacquelyn Mann, 48th Medical Group adolescence substance abuse counselor. "This is a great opportunity for us to bring awareness to the kids about the problems and dangers of drugs, and to deter our kids from ever experimenting with them."