Substance Abuse Awareness Campaign

According to the Department of Health 2002 Socorro County Profile, Socorro County’s age adjusted rate of death from illicit drugs during the period of 1998 through 2000 was 26 per 100,000 standard population. This is 62.5% higher than the New Mexico rate of 16 per 100,000 and is the second highest rate in the state. According to the 2001 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, 25% of youth had initiated marijuana use at twelve years or younger. In addition, primary data indicates that substance abuse is considered to be the most important health issue by community members. SCOPE’s Substance Abuse Core Team has merged with the Socorro Mayor’s Task Force and is working to develop evidence based strategies and interventions. The Core Team decided on the aim of “Decreasing the number of children under the age of twelve initiating use of marijuana.