Walsh Takes Anti-Drug Message to Washington

Tammy Walsh, founder of the Northport Community Book Club, was a key speaker at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 7.

Less than a year after starting the Club, which focuses on issues of drug and alcohol addiction and recovery, Walsh shared her insights before 2,500 members of the nation's leading drug abuse prevention organization.

Walsh had a speech prepared for the event but after attending media training, she threw it out. "I just spoke from the heart," she said simply.

Walsh, a math teacher at Northport High School and one of the members in the national Five Moms campaign to stop teens from abusing cough syrup, also met with New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer while in Washington. Both support a proposal to establish an age restriction on the sale of products containing DXM (Dextromethorphan), which is found in over-the-counter cough and cold remedies. 

Data collected in 2011 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse for its Monitoring the Future study estimate the intentional abuse of cough medicine among eighth and 12th graders is 2.7 and 5.3 percent, respectively. Walsh called it a "wicked high," which results in vomiting, followed by peer ridicule.

Walsh also met with Rep. Steve Israel, D-Dix Hills, who she said is "totally on board" with the proposal and expressed interest in holding a press conference in Northport once the bill is signed. A town hall meeting is also under discussion.

Walsh and her team of student and parent volunteers are currently hard at work planning a series of events in April to highlight prevention and celebrate recovery. James Brown, author of This River and The Los Angeles Diaries, will be at the Northport Library on April 25 for a book discussion. On April 26-27, high school students will have an opportunity to meet Brown and win copies of his books.

The final event will take place at the Town of Huntington's skate park on Friday night with food, raffle baskets, activities for the whole family, and the dedication of two park benches. Members from Phoenix House will attend and Walsh hopes to attract other celebrities such as Amanda Beard, the Olympic swimmer who has written the story of her own recovery called In the Water They Can't See You Cry. Also on her wish list is a return visit by Chris Herren, author of Basketball Junkie, who recently participated in a very successful event at the Huntington Book Revue spponsored by the Book Club.

Walsh, who taped a video while in Washington for stopmedicineabuse.org in which she gives a shout-out to her students, said drug addiction can happen anywhere, anytime, in any family. Her welcoming, one-kid-at-a-time approach clearly resonates across generations.

"We're a non-judgmental group," she said. "Every time we add a person who can speak about their experiences, we gain another." 

Parents of children grappling with addiction often phone the Walsh home for a little "Tammy time" as her family calls it. Walsh offers words of advice and encouragement but said that sometimes, "I just let them cry."

Anyone interested in donating food and raffle items for the April 27 event can contact Walsh at walshboxing@gmail.com.