OCTOBER 23, 2024 – Red Ribbon Week is celebrated annually from Oct. 23-31 and is the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention awareness program.
The 2024 theme is “Life is a Movie. Film Drug Free.”
Red Ribbon Week is in honor of Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Camarena served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 for two years and then joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Camarena was detailed to go to Mexico, where he remained on the “trail of the country’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers,” according to the DEA. However, in 1985, Camarena was brutally tortured and murdered by drug traffickers that he was investigating in Mexico.
Camarena received two Sustained Superior Performance Awards, a Special Achievement Award and, posthumously, the Administrator’s Award of Honor, the highest award granted by the DEA.
Shortly after Camarena’s death, Congressman Duncan Hunter and high school friend Henry Lozano created the “Camarena Clubs” and the wearing of a red ribbon to show their opposition to drugs. Camarena Clubs and their message quickly gained momentum and members presented Camarena Club Proclamation to then First Lady Nancy Reagan, bringing it national attention, states the description of Red Ribbon Week at www.dea.gov.
The National Family Partnership, with President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan (serving as honorary chairpersons) formalized the campaign in 1988.
According to the DEA, in 2023 the DEA has seized more than 80 million fentanyl-lace fake pills and more than 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. The 2023 seizures are equivalent to more than 390 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
In 2021, the latest full year of data available, there were 1,427 deaths in Wisconsin related to opioids, Department of Homeland Security statistics show.
So, during Oct. 23-31 every year, people wear red ribbons to represent the pledge to live drug free and to honor the sacrifice of those all who have lost their lives in the fight against drugs.
Red Ribbon Week is an ideal time to talk to children and other loved ones regarding drugs and to empower them with the knowledge to make safe choices. Through awareness and education, can the right tools be given to people to make great decisions.
If you or someone you know is struggling with drug or alcohol issues, please reach out for help. The Fort McCoy Army Substance Abuse Prevention Office is also available for training or resources, and may be reached by calling 502-898-5955/2411.
Service members can also call the Substance Use Disorder Clinical Care line at 309-782-4818.
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Army Substance Abuse Prevention Office.)
Courtesy Story
Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office