Stepworks Press Release

Growing up in an environment of a runaway drug epidemic, teens in southeastern Kentucky counties are faced with unprecedented access to drugs and likely a lot of peer pressure to begin using at an early age. To address this widely acknowledged problem, law enforcement officials and drug prevention volunteers in the state have introduced a new initiative to distribute home drug test kits for parents to administer to their kids in some Kentucky counties.

The home drug test pilot program, nicknamed “Give Me a Reason,” sets out to do just that for Kentucky teens: give them an easily remembered reason to decline to use drugs when they’re faced with that choice. Knowing they can be tested when they get home, the program’s leaders reason, they might be less likely to start using due to peer pressure. The kits allow parents to test for different drugs, from marijuana to highly addictive opiates.

Kentuckians affected by the growing epidemic of heroin abuse and overdose are looking to raise awareness of the problem and urge action from state lawmakers. On May 10 the nonprofit group Walking For Wellness hosted a community cookout in Louisville to raise money for a local treatment center. The fundraiser comes after state legislators struggled to pass a bill that would, among other actions, increase funding for treatment centers across the state.