Red Ribbon Week in Hillsborough

Red Ribbon Week is being celebrated this week in Hillsborough. 

Red Ribbon Week is the largest and longest-running drug prevention campaign in the country.  We celebrate Red Ribbon Week at the end of October and we use the red ribbon as a symbol of our commitment to raise awareness about living a healthy and drug-free life.  The facts are alarming: 

• New Jersey has the 6th highest rate of fatal youth drug overdoses in the country due to inexpensive and highly pure heroin in New Jersey
• Opioid dependency can begin in just five days
• Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive, and comes in a variety of colors, shapes and forms – including powder and pills.  Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs to drive addiction and create repeat business. Many victims of fentanyl poisoning were unaware they ingested fentanyl.    
• According to the CDC, an estimated 110,511 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and poisonings in 2022, with almost 70 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Only two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose.
• 15 percent of New Jersey teens admit to drinking alcohol for the first time before age 13 and 39 percent of New Jersey teens admit to smoking marijuana at least once daily 

The theme for Red Ribbon Week is “BE KIND TO YOUR MIND. LIVE DRUG FREE”  It’s important as a community that we talk about drug addiction and provide resources to families.  We also want to reduce the stigma surrounding drug addiction and alcohol abuse.  Hillsborough was designated as a Stigma-Free Community in 2020.   Many people are struggling and we need for them to know that they are not alone and that our community cares about them and there are resources available to them.

There are many activities going on this week throughout the school district and we also have some community events.

One event that is open to anyone in the community is a Poster Contest.  Get creative and create a poster with the theme “BE KIND TO YOUR MIND LIVE DRUG FREE” for a chance to win prizes.  There are 5 categories including elementary, Auten Road, middle school, high school, and adult.  The contest is open to everyone!  All the posters will be displayed here in the Municipal Building.   

More information about the poster contest will be included in the Mayor’s enews this week and for the next few weeks as the contest is open through November.