(10/25/2012)

Red Ribbon Week Celebrates Success in Curbing Drug Abuse
American Forces Press Service

October 18, 2012

Drug and substance abuse among Defense Department military and civilian personnel and their families is at its lowest point in the department’s history, the Pentagon’s director of operational readiness and safety said.  The substance abuse rate dropped from 7.5 percent in 1980 to less than 1 percent in fiscal 2011, Joseph Angello Jr. said in an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.  Angello said Red Ribbon Week, recognized nationally since 1990 to increase drug abuse awareness, which begins Oct. 23, provides an opportunity to note that fighting drug abuse in the armed forces has come a long way.

View the full article here: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=118260

Keywords: red ribbon, celebrates, success, curbing, drug abuse