Washington, DC – Nearly 2,000 substance abuse prevention and treatment specialists from across the country will convene in Orlando, Fla. July 20-24 for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)’s 2014 Mid-Year Training Institute. The week-long training, held at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Hotel, will teach participants how to address one of our nation’s biggest public health challenges – youth drug use.
CADCA’s Mid-Year Training Institute is a one-of-a-kind intensive training opportunity, offering more than 70 half-day and two-day courses geared towards helping participants find solutions to their community’s toughest substance abuse problems.
“The Mid-Year is a unique professional development opportunity for anyone trying to prevent and reduce drug abuse, and its related problems, in their community,” said General Arthur T. Dean, CADCA’s Chairman and CEO. “After four days of intensive training, participants will return to their communities with new skills and strategies, and a clearer roadmap to create environments where young people can thrive.”
CADCA’s Mid-Year will cover a wide range of topics – everything from how to prevent prescription drug abuse and the abuse of synthetic drugs to how to create tobacco-free environments, reduce impaired driving and develop policies to reduce marijuana use and underage drinking.
Keynote speakers include Michael Botticelli, Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy, and Kana Enomoto, Deputy Principal Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
In addition, participants will hear from Matthew Dunagan from Florida’s Office of the Attorney General, who will lead a course on prescription drug abuse prevention and share Florida’s experience with attendees. The Mid-Year will also feature several other national experts and researchers, such as Fran Harding, Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; Dr. Ralph Hingson, Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Dr. David Jernigan, Associate Professor, Department of Health, Behavior and Society and Director, Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Special Agent John Scherbenske, Chief, Synthetic Drugs and Chemical Section Office of Diversion Control at the Drug Enforcement Administration; Dr. Mark Wolfson, Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Dr. Jane Maxwell, Senior Research Scientist at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin; Dr. Traci L. Toomey, Professor in the School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota; and many others.
The Mid-Year also welcomes 300 youth from around the country who will take part in CADCA’s workforce development training, the National Youth Leadership Initiative (NYLI), where they’ll learn how to become drug prevention advocates and powerful community leaders.
In addition, prior to the Mid-Year, Project SAM will hold a National Marijuana Action Summit, featuring SAM Chairman Patrick J. Kennedy. The Summit will take place on Saturday July 19-20 at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Hotel and Waldorf Astoria Orlando complex. In addition, immediately following the Mid-Year on Friday, July 25, CADCA will hold the Geographic Health Equity Symposium: Where You Live Matters to Your Health, which will explore geographic health disparities related to tobacco use and cancer rates.
To view the courses available at CADCA’s Mid-Year Training Institute, visit https://midyear.cadca.org/.
Members of the media interested in covering any portion of the event should contact Natalia Martinez Duncan at 703-706-0560 ext. 256 or via e-mail at nmartinez@cadca.org.
