Any celebration is an opportunity for joy, but the fall and winter holidays–held as the days get shorter–are difficult for many. In addition, thousands in our communities are impacted by the worsening opioid crisis and require our support and caring. There are many reasons for feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed this time of year: waning…
Compass Mark has received a grant to offer free medication disposal bags to residents of Lancaster, Lebanon, and Chester ounties, PA. Keeping unused or expired medications in your medicine cabinet can lead to misuse or accidental ingestion. The newest option for the disposal of unused and expired medications are medication disposal bags. We are now…
The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey measures drug and alcohol use and related attitudes among adolescents nationwide–11,821 students from 112 public and private schools participated in 2020. This year’s data was collected right before school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. The sample size is therefor smaller than in previous years, but doesn’t necessarily reflect…
On Saturday October 21st Josh Mountz, Compass Mark Prevention Specialist, joined Chief Todd Breiner from the Lebanon City Police for the DEA’s National Drug Take Back Day. The event is dedicated to collecting unused or expired medication to make sure that they do not get into the wrong hands. Pennsylvania Youth Survey data states that…
There’s strength in numbers, and Compass Mark is now part of a collaboration that brings together key organizations in Lancaster County’s efforts to reduce deaths from opioids and heroin. Joining Forces is a group of local government and community organizations that is working together to strengthen the great work already happening in communities throughout the…
“Fentanyl overdose survivors require little if any hospital treatment.” Study that sentence carefully. It’s the headline of an article describing results of a recently published Canadian study. Further on, the article states, “75 per cent of the fentanyl overdose patients were classified as “low-risk” upon arrival.” Compass Mark recognizes addiction as a medial disease; as…
Forty-five Pennsylvania Centers of Excellence (COE) will soon be available throughout the state to ensure opioid-addicted people receive the best possible treatment and aftercare in their communities.
How do you turn stigma into law? PA House Representative Bryan Barbin seems to have hit on the solution with three proposed bills that would redirect money from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement to what he believes are measures to reduce opioid abuse.
Recent headlines have highlighted the profound impact of heroin abuse—a trend that’s triggered plenty of necessary conversations about prevention and treatment efforts in Lancaster, PA and across the country. These discussions about heroin are important; however parents, teachers, and other concerned adults shouldn’t take their focus off a more prevalent problem in our community: alcohol.