Narconon Arrowhead Participates in Red Ribbon Week

Every year for nearly three decades, individuals, families, and organizations around the United States have been donning red ribbons in a sign of solidarity for the Red Ribbon Campaign. This nationwide movement found its beginnings in 1985 when a man named Enrique Camarena was brutally tortured and murdered at the hands of agents of a drug cartel in Mexico. Camarena was there on assignment as an agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), working to stop the spread of drugs at its source along the international drug trafficking corridors into the U.S.

He joined the DEA over the objections of his worried mother, telling her that “I’m only one person, but I want to make a difference.” Camarena’s tragic death hit home for countless Americans, and many began wearing red ribbons as a way to show their support for Camarena and all the stood for, and to help raise awareness of the full scope of the impact that drugs have on our society. The red ribbon movement found a sponsor in the National Family Partnership, an organization founded in 1980 by parents who were concerned about the spread of drugs in our society and who wanted to do something effective to lead the way towards a better future for everyone, and before long the Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign had launched, and it has since then become a tradition.

Narconon Arrowhead Joins the Red Ribbon Campaign

Narconon Arrowhead has adopted the tradition of celebrating Red Ribbon Week, and this year they are taking part from the 21st through the 31st of October. The theme of Red Ribbon Week 2014 is “Love Yourself. Be Drug-Free.” It was conceived by a 7th grader in New York, who explained it saying, “I came up with the theme, ‘Love Yourself. Be Drug-Free,’ because drugs are such a harmful thing for your body. If you are choosing not to take them, you obviously love yourself because you aren’t harming yourself.” The theme was chosen by the red ribbon organization as effectively communicating the message of the event, one which is aimed at prevention of drug abuse and addiction. This message lines up directly with the goals of Narconon Arrowhead, which works throughout the year on projects centered around efforts to help people understand the risks of drug use and to avoid falling into the trap of addiction in the first place.

In addition to activities on the local scale, Narconon Arrowhead is reaching out to the millions via their website. The site, Narcononarrowhead.org features a wide array of informational resources for use in educating oneself, friends and family, or entire groups about what drugs are, how they work on the body and mind, how a person gets addicted, and how it is possible to break free from addiction and achieve a fresh start in life. These include articles, videos, guides, a blog and more that offer coverage of every aspect of the problem of drugs. In short, the Narcononarrowhead.org website is a powerful tool in the fight against drugs in America, and it aligns with the goals and purposes of the Red Ribbon Campaign. The vast majority of people in this country want to see an end to the spread of drugs, and all it takes is more people like Enrique Camarena saying “I’m only one person, but I want to make a difference.”