The Brainchild of a Small Town Police Chief
Twenty years ago, an amazing substance abuse prevention program was started in the small rural town of Centreville, Maryland. The town police chief there wanted to merge Halloween, Red Ribbon Week, and National Crime Prevention Month into one community-based event. His brainchild, “The Haunted Crack House Project,” immediately gained international attention, and was attended by thousands of young people and their families.
Since this project’s infancy, substance abuse prevention specialists have learned that pure scare tactics do not always reap the outcome intended. Using research based approaches to prevention, now a science for over three decades, community organizers are armed with the best possible tools to confront and respond to local drug and alcohol abuse issues facing their communities.
