Local group fights drug and alcohol abuse

David Marlon was running a local drug-rehabilitation program when he realized that a large proportion of the population that needed help wasn't getting it.

The program had been very successful but served about the top half of the population, on a socioeconomic basis, Marlon said.

"I noticed there was a big need in the lower half," he said.

Make that needs, such as awareness, education, prevention, treatment and recovery. And so, in 2006, The Solutions Foundation was born -- with emphasis on those five areas.

"The purpose is to educate individuals about drug and alcohol abuse," said Samra Dayani, the foundation's director of marketing, "so they can avoid engaging in illicit behaviors and, if they already were addicted, so they could get help."

Marlon, who's founder and president of the foundation, first obtained status as a nonprofit. He got the foundation licensed by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Agency as an education and prevention provider. He put together a board of 14 people -- "all very well-connected, long-term Las Vegans who can get things done."

The foundation's first big project was to help with the Crystal Darkness campaign for kids in grades seven through 12, assisting with funding, the printing of booklets and bringing in volunteers to do training.

The booklets, Dayani said, stressed the dangerous consequences of using crystal meth, thus improving awareness.

"Subsequently, there has been a reduction of the amount of crystal meth that has been reported," Marlon said.

The other side of the coin: "There's been a corresponding increase in opiate use."

And so the battle continues, always. The foundation's substance-abuse targets, he said, are "really the full gamut -- alcohol issues, illegal drugs as well as prescription drug challenges."

Marlon said he thought the foundation's emphasis would be on kids, but then he realized that it was impossible to make a clear delineation between them and their parents.

"As soon as you start talking about kids, you start talking mothers," he said. And with fetal alcohol syndrome being such a problem, "it really goes below 0" on the age range.

Plus, he said, "when you get kids whose parents are using drugs, it harms the children. We really need to educate and promote awareness to all ages on this terrible issue."

Particularly troubling to Marlon are reports of kids taking prescription pills they steal from Mom and Dad's medicine cabinet or obtain on the street.

"They're using medication, not knowing what it's for," Dayani said. At punch-bowl pill parties, she said, various medications are dumped into a bowl and the kids just take whatever they grab, in whatever combination.

"Those can have lethal consequences," she said.

Another big problem: "Kids who are buying what they call opium, but it's really black-tar heroin," Marlon said. "Little $10 balloons. It's really heroin, which is terribly addicting."

Currently, he said, the foundation is working on a parental tool kit. Marlon said parents frequently call, asking: "one, 'How do I talk to my kid about not taking drugs?'; two, 'What are the signs that my kid is using drugs?'; and three, 'What do I do, because I know my kid's addicted?' " It will be an Internet resource, he said, "so they can do it without being embarrassed."

The foundation is supported by private donations and by fundraising events such as a recent golf tournament. It accepts volunteers, who go into schools to share their experiences with various types of drugs, or work with teachers in educating students about drugs. Other volunteers help with special events.

For more information on The Solutions Foundation, or to volunteer or make a donation, visit www.solutions-foundation.org or call 228-8520.

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.