Metro Drug Coalition

Every day in our community children are being exposed to alcohol and drugs. Whether it is through their parent’s abuse of a prescription drug, their friend’s vaping, or advertisements on television of alcohol, children of all ages are becoming desensitized to the dangers of substance misuse. Young adults may have a feeling of being invincible when it comes to first-time drug use only to overdose and die. Youth and young adults ages 15-24 years old showed nearly two and half times increase from 2016 to 2017 increase in drug-related overdose death cases from 12 to 28 deaths per the Knox County Regional Forensic Center. Metro Drug Coalition (MDC) is taking a stance in our community to change the statistics and provide the next generation with a firm foundation of healthy bodies, minds, and spirits.

MDC is requesting funding to pilot a research-based program from the National Institute of Health to two summer camps at the YMCA of East Tennessee and the Boys & Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley in Knox County. Brain Power! is an alcohol and drug prevention awareness module program working with elementary-age children. Verified volunteers from our community will provide the programming to the children based on Brain Power! We will supplement with puppets in the modules as a way to further interact with the children. Puppets have been shown to encourage children to be more open in talking about their feelings. MDC is confident we will secure future funding for this program.