Visit the home of Red Ribbon Week in Cincinnati:

What is Red Ribbon Week?
The Red Ribbon Celebration was established as a national awareness campaign in 1988 after the death of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena.

Enrique "Kiki" Camarena grew up in a dirt-floored house with hopes and dreams of making a difference. Camarena worked his way through college, served in the Marines and became a police officer. He then decided to join the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA sent Camarena to work undercover in Mexico investigating a major drug cartel believed to include officers in the Mexican army, police and government. On Feb. 7, 1985, the 37-year-old Camarena left his office to meet his wife for lunch. Five men appeared at the agent's side and shoved him in a car. One month later, Camarena's body was found in a shallow grave. He had been tortured to death.

In honor of Camarena's memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin. Parents, sick of the destruction of alcohol and other drugs, had begun forming coalitions. Some of these new coalitions took Camarena as their model and embraced his belief that one person can make a difference. These coalitions also adopted the symbol of Camarena's memory, the red ribbon.

The National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign in 1988. Since that time, the campaign has reached millions of U.S. children.

The Celebration was created to take a collective stand against underage use of alcohol and tobacco and all use of illegal drugs.

The Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati (CDFGC) will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week this year with a continued focus on underage drinking. According to the 2006 Student Drug Use Survey conducted by The Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati to over 50,000 seventh through twelfth grade students, alcohol is the number one drug of choice for youth and the average age of first use is 12.6 in Greater Cincinnati.  Our message that youth are “Too Smart To Start” drinking alcohol will be incorporated into local Red Ribbon Week activities.  Our partner, the Ohio National Guard Counterdrug Task Force has donated 5000 Red Ribbons for distribution to area schools.  Some of the schools the CDFGC has been working with are CincinnatiPublic Schools, Saint Ursula Villa, Saint JosephCatholicSchool, and WyomingCitySchools. 

The goals of the  “Too Smart To Start” campaign are to increase the perception of harm of alcohol among tweens, to increase the perception of harm of alcohol among parents of tweens and to increase the number of conversations parents have with their tweens about the harms of alcohol.

Our youth need to understand that alcohol is a drug and that it is only legal for those 21 years of age and older because the affects of drinking alcohol is harmful to the developing brain and body.  These effects can be long-term and irreversible.  Prevention is education and education is the key.  If the age of first use can be delayed, then the lifelong consequences, such as addiction and improper body development, are less likely to occur.

Parents need to understand that they must start to have conversations with their tweens (9-13 years old) about these harms.  Remembering that a conversation is two-way communication, therefore listen to your children and let them know you are listening.  They also need to set and communicate clear and consistent rules about underage drinking and follow through with the consequences when the rule(s) have been broken.  Parents are still very influential in their tweens’ lives.  Influence is power.  Parents grab a hold to this power and be a good role model.

Drug Free 24-7
The 2007 Red Ribbon Celebration is October 23 through 31. The Drug-Free Action Alliance has developed the theme "drugfree24-7" to reflect how Red Ribbon has become a year-round celebration, and has created a website. Website features for youth include games, a message board, and electronic greeting cards. Parents and adult mentors can find planning information, order Red Ribbon supplies like bracelets, ribbons, and pencils, and a message board to post local activities. Please visit  http://www.drugfree24-7.org

Bring It To My Community
You can order Red Ribbon supplies directly from the www.drugfree24-7.org website, or call the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati at (513) 751-8000 for additional information and resources.