The Narcotic Overdose Prevention & Education (NOPE) Taskforce is a group of community leaders and concerned parents working to save lives through dramatic personal presentations about the deadly consequences of drug abuse combined with ongoing efforts to influence anti–drug legislation and the provision of vital information about where young people with a substance abuse problem–and their families–can go for help.
The cornerstone of NOPE's mission is the personal, high impact presentation delivered to middle and high school students throughout the school year. This message is delivered graphically and emotionally from several perspectives. First, from law enforcement officials who have the grim task of making death notifications to distraught families, then from a recovering addict who lived to tell about his or her experience, and finally, from parents who have suffered the loss of a child to an overdose.
The presentations achieve an immediate and positive result.
Treatment is costly, and for many, unaffordable. Ultimately, NOPE's goal is to seek out, and support the best treatment programs, and provide assistance to adolescents and young adults seeking further help from them.
Not nearly enough action is being taken at the state and federal levels to combat the .proliferation of illegal drugs, and the illegal distribution of powerful prescription drugs. The NOPE Taskforce brings its message to both public and private forums, in order to focus .attention on this epidemic that is killing our children, and to put a human face on the debate. The message is simple:
Kids cannot die from a drug overdose if they do not have access to drugs.
