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Pasco County students stand up against drugs and gain the attention of county leaders

Safe Teens AgaiNst Drugs (STAND) leaders sat on a panel to discuss the growing drug problem, where issues stem from, and how to create solutions.

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Pasco County is battling a major drug problem. Over the past three years, overdoses continued to increase in the community. In May of this year, there were 68 overdoses, compared to 38 the year before. The Pasco community impact group, Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, or ASAP, has been working to curb this problem. Part of their approach is involving the youth through a student leadership program. Safe Teens AgaiNst Drugs, or STAND, is a Pasco-specific program with more than 38 student volunteers.

A number of them sat on an ASAP panel and discussed a number of issues, including what substance abuse can do to families and kids.

Destiny Winter explained how her father and brothers' substance and violence issues impacted her.

“Nobody came up to me. Nobody asked me how I was," Winter said. "The police asked you what happened. They don’t ask if you’re okay. Nobody sits and talks to you. I feel like there should be somebody there.”

Now, she wants to make sure that doesn’t happen to other kids in her community through STAND.

“They’ve heard it from a million adults before," Winter said. "They’ve heard this before. But sometimes hearing this from your peers, and having, people your age helping you out -- and understanding ways get in there as well, can benefit them.”

A big focus was to understand the ways mental health plays into drug abuse. Gulf High School student Jeromy Vaughan expressed the need for counseling and strong communication.

“A lot of kids do need that," Vaughan said. "They need to know they are not alone when they are attempting or trying this stuff. They are not alone in fighting whatever they don’t want to remember, whatever they don’t want to talk about.”

The bottom line: the students on the panel want to see a real difference in Pasco County.

“Well, I think that people really start to listen when they see that our youth is truly being affected. Because when you see some 30-year-old talking about what’s wrong with our community, we’re used to hearing that," Winter explained.

"But, when you see the kids speaking up, taking a stand. Then you always know that that’s when we really need help. That’s when you truly need to start looking for solutions," Winter said. “If they’re noticing it, when they should just be kids living their lives. Then it’s really a problem.”

Currently, STAND is in eight Pasco County schools, and other counties have approached STAND about creating similar programs.

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