Breaking The Cycle Of Substance
Abuse On The Big Island

According to a study from the National Library of Medicine back in 2010 Hawai'i Adolescents showed an addiction problem to Alcohol even at Schools. It's all about education youth are getting as a role example from the older population, teach youth how to be strong & brave and youth becomes in the future strong & brave. Teach youth how to become dependent on substance & you create a generation of substance users.

Reference to the

study can be found on this link

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118030/

Kids of the big island, especially if they live in rural places, they get bored, and the only exit is substance abuse to kill time. The Big Island economy is designed in a way where most of the youth are left behind. Public transportation is at it’s minimum on the island and if you don’t have a transportation vehicle you will feel stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a tropical jungle for summer where substance abuse seems like an exit to have fun, substance abuse is your one-way ticket to hell on earth.

Substance abuse problem all over the US and not only in Hawaii is very noticeable from many observers in the construction industry. Only by education we can make a change, if a powerful cycle of education is offered to youth to make them stronger and resistant to substance abuse, it’s when we break the cycle of substance on the big island for future generations.

… CREATING A SOBER WORKPLACE

There’s no simple way to keep drugs and alcohol off the job site, but experts recommend taking action on several fronts.

Education. Help workers understand the grave risks they are assuming when they use drugs or alcohol on the job or come to work high or hungover. Teach them to identify the signs of substance abuse so they can recognize co-workers who may be under the influence.

Support. Create an environment in which employees who are struggling with addiction can ask for and be directed to professional help.

Testing. Use drug testing as needed to screen potential employees and manage your current team. Be upfront about your program. Help people understand it’s a precautionary measure designed to protect everyone from danger. Perform the testing under the supervision of a licensed physician who can interpret the results and provide other relevant information about the applicant or employee’s health.

Culture. Host alcohol-free team-building events instead—things like family picnics, volunteer activities, hikes, fantasy sports leagues or trivia contests.

Old wisdom teaches us what we teach to kids, stay with them for life like sculpturing words on rocks. What are we currently teaching our kids on the big island when go to shops and they see an infinite line of alcohol bottles easy to grab when you reach 21… It’s an alarming message mixed with the advertisement brainwash movies/media/songs all the US severely suffer from a shopping addiction and by placing substance abuse on the shelves without warning for the danger we are sending the message for our youth that alcohol is cool…

Reference link https://www.cat.com/en_US/articles/ci-articles/substance-abuse-and-construction.html

A movement regarding smoking in the 70s went brutally against smoking to save lives and now there is by law a message on cigarettes boxes that smoking can kill you. The same approach can be used to prevent youth from falling in the trap of the legal advertisement of substance abuse by asking all shops to post signs warning of the danger from alcohol above every shelf where alcohol bottles are sold.

Youth are here to replace us, we can be the generation which we never had and teach future generations true bravery and true freedom from all substance abuse, to live a healthy life and pass to youth after them healthy and positive habits.