Several Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky area high schools recently converged at Paul Brown Stadium to tackle the topic of underage alcohol and drug use. More than 70 students from these schools took part in this year's Red Ribbon Week Youth Summit held at the stadium on October 21. The event was hosted by the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati with support from the Hamilton County Mental Health & Recovery Services Board (HCMHRSB).  Hamilton County Board Commissioner Todd Portune, HCMHRSB President/CEO Patrick Tribbe and Walnut Hills Anti-Drug Coalition Youth Leader Rico Stallworth provided featured remarks at the summit.

Red Ribbon Week is a nationwide effort to celebrate healthy, drug-free living and to motivate youth across the country to choose to live drug-free. The central event of this year's Youth Summit was the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) "Above the Influence" campaign that challenged students to identify good and bad influences in their environment that affect their decision making process. The students worked in small groups to share their perceptions on issues related to youth alcohol and drug use, and participated in the "Tag-It" activity where they identified things in their communities that they were above the influence of participating in. 

Students were also encouraged to "Be" the influence of alcohol and drug use prevention by mentoring other youth to be Above the Influence through implementation of the campaign at their schools during Red Ribbon Week. Check out the Coalition's Facebook page to see the students' reactions and results to the Above the Influence project. More pictures of the students' Above the Influence activities will be posted in the coming weeks to our Facebook page and website www.drugfreecincinnati.org