Konawaena High to Host Meth Awareness Day

Correction: The Hawaii Meth Project informed Big Island Now that there will no longer be an address by a recovering meth addict. The article has been amended.

Konawaena High School will host a Meth Awareness Day Wednesday.

The event organized by the Hawaii Meth Project will include a lunch rally held from 11:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. in the Kealakekua school’s courtyard.

Prior to the rally, a recovering meth addict will address a campus-wide assembly on the risks of methamphetamine use from a real-life perspective.

According to a statement from the Hawaii Meth Project, the presentation will be followed by an opportunity for students to learn how they can take action against the meth epidemic in Hawaii and prevent meth use among their peers.

Leading the effort is Makoa Yoshida, a Konawaena freshman and member of the Hawaii Meth Project’s statewide Teen Advisory Council.

Yoshida has organized a series of meth prevention lessons this week which will culminate in the assembly and lunchtime rally.

“Student volunteers and leaders like Makoa are vital to the Hawaii Meth Project’s mission of preventing meth use and empowering youth to become advocates of its ‘Not Even Once’ message,” organizers said.

The Hawaii Meth Project is a non-profit organization that implements large-scale, research-based campaigns and community action programs to reduce methamphetamine use in the state.

Central to its integrated campaigns is MethProject.org which provides information about meth for teens. The Hawaii Meth Project is affiliated with ThePartnershipatDrugfree.org, a national non-profit organization working to help families solve the problem of teen substance abuse.