On Tuesday, April 28th, the Out of the Shadows drug awareness event was hosted in the BPAC. This was the second time the Arlington community has ever had an event such as this. Rather than focusing on sending a message to the youth of the community, the event was centered around teachers, parents, and community members. The idea for this arose last year when Officers Bolter and Kinney gave a presentation on drug usage and trafficking in Arlington in front of the staff members at Arlington High School. Assistant Principal Mr. Nelson said, “The staff enjoyed that, learned from it, and wanted more.” This “more” that the staff sought grew into a new community organization. Dubbed the Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition, this group is trying to spread awareness for what is truly going on in the community.

To show people the reality of the situation in Arlington, various booths were set up at the event that detailed the harmful effects of a multitude of drugs. Cascade Valley Hospital had a booth showing statistics of the various drug cases typically found in the E.R. But, for the most part, these booths only provided an inkling of information compared to the presentations.

For those who were unaware of the dark side of Arlington, Officers Bolter and Ingram gave a presentation on the drug trafficking and seizures they see in this community. Their pictures and statistics in their presentation revealed what many people would think wasn’t possible for a small town such as Arlington. Just because this isn’t a widely known town, it does not mean that this town does not know drug addiction.

To keep the focus for the night on hope and a solution, Angie Keaty and Art Dahlen, co-founders of Battlefield Addiction (an organization that strives to help parents with childhood addiction) made an appearance as guest speakers. Dahlen spoke of his firm belief that by focusing on the parents, and not the child who is addicted, a more positive outcome is obtainable. The main idea behind this is that when an addict has hit his/her all-time low, they go to their parents for help. Parents are often the people who provide addicts with food and a place to sleep. For the addict, this means that no matter what happens, they’ll be safe. Dahlen stated that many parents instantly resort to Google to find out how to help their kid. Of course, the first thing Google will advise them to do is to send their child off to a treatment center. And when that doesn’t work, they go back to Google for more solutions. This process keeps on going until the parents give up. Dahlen’s approach to the situation is to make sure parents know what steps to take before they make it worse for either them or their child. Each person is different, meaning there is no universal solution. However, it isn’t necessary to confront the addict directly, so long as parents listen to Dahlen’s advice. Dahlen mentioned that he rarely sees the addict until they come out of treatment. His indirect approach to dealing with addiction allows for the organization to impact not only the addict’s life, but the entire family’s. Dahlen said, “We’re taking a family from start to finish.”

Much of the night was focused on the impact the community can make. The efforts of the Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition will continue through the years to come. A poster was placed in the BPAC foyer during the event for people to sign. By signing, people pledged that they would do what they can to make a difference in their community. Mr. Nelson said, “Our whole message tonight is that there is hope, and recovery is not a stigma.” Shanna Crookes, the intervention specialist for AHS, was the final presentation and focal point of hope for the evening. Crookes said, “Shame and stigma cannot exist in the same space as compassion.”