Stephen Ahles – Project SMART for Rotary Clubs
Mr. Ahles is leading the fight against opioid addiction through community naloxone training and Project SMART. Over 1 million people in the U.S. have died due to opioid overdoses in the past 10 years.
Project SMART is designed to address all the issues with drug addiction, and to eradicate it. It’s an acronym for School Education, Medicine and Drug Disposal, Awareness, Recovery, and Treatment. Mr. Ahles’ focus was on school education, where there has been a 169% increase in fentanyl overdose deaths from 2019 to 2023. He works with Drug Free Clubs of America to educate high school students. The second focus was on proper medicine disposal, where drugs are not stolen or get into our water supply. A kiosk has been placed in the lobby of the GP Woods Public Safety Dept. where unused drugs can be deposited and are exposed to a charcoal substance that renders them unusable. When the kiosk is full, it is shipped to a facility for incineration. The goal is to place a kiosk in every city nationwide that has a Rotary chapter.
To learn more about the Rotary Action Group for Addiction Prevention, go to www.rag-ap.org (http://www.rag-ap.org/).
Mr. Ahles is leading the fight against opioid addiction through community naloxone training and Project SMART. Over 1 million people in the U.S. have died due to opioid overdoses in the past 10 years.
Project SMART is designed to address all the issues with drug addiction, and to eradicate it. It’s an acronym for School Education, Medicine and Drug Disposal, Awareness, Recovery, and Treatment. Mr. Ahles’ focus was on school education, where there has been a 169% increase in fentanyl overdose deaths from 2019 to 2023. He works with Drug Free Clubs of America to educate high school students. The second focus was on proper medicine disposal, where drugs are not stolen or get into our water supply. A kiosk has been placed in the lobby of the GP Woods Public Safety Dept. where unused drugs can be deposited and are exposed to a charcoal substance that renders them unusable. When the kiosk is full, it is shipped to a facility for incineration. The goal is to place a kiosk in every city nationwide that has a Rotary chapter.
To learn more about the Rotary Action Group for Addiction Prevention, go to www.rag-ap.org (http://www.rag-ap.org/).