By: T’Neil Gooden
October is substance abuse awareness month, and Brooklyn College’s Public Health and Medicine Club (PHAM) welcomed Brooklyn’s Youth Against Substance Abuse (YAS), as they shared how they are educating younger generations from initiating substance abuse and preventing its use. This coalition supports youth in the LGBTQIA space and the NYC community in preventing the misuse of substances within this age group.
“Brooklyn Yas is committed to creating community-level change to prevent substance misuse in LGBTQIA plus youth in Brooklyn, specifically in neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, East New York, Bushwick, and Williamsburg,” said Nyrie Smith (they/them), the coordinator and manager at YAS.
Brooklyn College students were introduced to understanding what primary prevention is and how primary prevention can be put into practice.
“Primary prevention is to stop initiation, misuse, or substance use disorder from happening. Essentially, you are trying to get into schools, trying to get into organizations and institutions, trying to get into the community to stop substance initiation at the root before it can lead to substance misuse or substance disorder,” said Smith.
This event allowed students to understand why preventing substance misuse is an important task for those who see the effects of substances every day.
“Substance use is a disorder. It is a mental illness; it is not something that should be criminalized and has treatment,” Smith told the audience.
While understanding the importance of substance prevention, students were introduced to the significance of having a third space and how that could impact substance abuse, misuse, and prevention.
“A lot of people, and people who self-identify as LGBTQIA+, are trying to find community or what is known as third spaces. Outside of your intimate family, outside of your school, and work is where you find community,” Smith said. “We want to make those spaces brave and safe spaces because that’s when people are trying to find their people. And for the LGBTQIA plus community, it’s hard to find your people when you are being dehumanized by your society and your environments, and that leads to what is known as minority stress.”
Students were not the only ones who learned about the importance of substance prevention and abuse; Brooklyn College alumni also shared their satisfaction with the new information they learned at the event.
“I definitely want us [students] to be more informed about things like substances, especially because, not saying the school particularly, but with colleges in general, students are under a lot of stress. They tend to be subjected to use substances, whether it’s like alcohol, opioids, et cetera,” said Meli Holdipp (they/them), BC Alumni and Social Media Manager at YAS.”
Brooklyn’s YAS also provided students with information about their Reducing Alcohol Access to Minors (RAAM) campaign, which supplies students with third spaces.
“RAAM works with local businesses to help them strengthen their policies, prohibiting alcohol sales to LGBTQIA plus and other minors. So you can join the RAM campaign now and take the pledge starting now on our block,” said April Martinez, data analyst at YAS. “We want to stop initiation at the door, but we also want to take places where initiation can happen and make sure that we’re reducing access or even the aesthetic appeal of it.”
After students learned about the importance of substance prevention and misuse, the YAS team provided a quick training in Narcan and why it is important to have Narcan on your person.
“Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is a rescue kit for opioid overdoses. Opioids are like fentanyl. We are trained and have a drop site to distribute Narcan throughout New York City because it’s important, and Narcan should always be free,” said Smith.
Individuals who had firsthand experience with Narcan expressed their gratitude for learning more about how to administer it to anyone who may need it.
“The whole healthcare industry is new to me,” Holdipp told The Vanguard. “My background is in media, so just learning to do simple things, like distributing Narcan to me, is very important. Especially, being in New York City, being young, I’m in my 20s, so I believe that everybody should have one.”
Students also learned about the importance of understanding themselves and what their assigned Gender at Birth (Sex), Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and other aspects mean to them.
“What we need is inclusivity…I always tell people, don’t try to fit in boxes when you know you’re a star. Find places that are open to you,” said Smith. “You are a star, find those spaces. Or make those spaces.”
Students who are interested in learning more about the Brooklyn YAS can visit the Brooklyn YAS website.