Alcohol and marijuana themes for media awards

LINKS between alcohol and sport and marijuana and health are the subjects students entering this year’s Let’s Talk About Drugs National Media Awards are being asked to consider.

Organised by the Greater Blanchardstown Response to Drugs (GBRD) the awards are now in their seventh year and were launched last month by Minister of State for Primary Care at the Department of Health, Alex White.

The launch was attended by last year’s winners from three secondary schools, who all created award-winning media features around drugs and alcohol.

This year, students all over the country are being asked to research the new theme of their choice and create a piece of original content in one of five formats: newspaper article; video or animated feature; audio recording; cartoon or poster.

The overall winner will receive

?¬1,000 and all category winners will have their features either published or broadcast in the media.

Co-ordinated by the Greater Blanchardstown Response to Drugs, the competition is free to enter and is being supported by Drugs.ie, the HSE, The Department of Health, Crimestoppers and the Irish Examiner.

Minister of State Alex White said the media awards were part of an important drugs education, prevention and awareness campaign.

“Through this innovative collaboration of community groups, State agencies and national media, key issues around drugs and alcohol can be discussed and highlighted in a meaningful and thought-provoking way,

? he explained.

Phillip Keegan, Co-Ordinator of organisers the Greater Blanchardstown Response to Drugs, said the awards also helped the media report responsibly on the issue.

“By encouraging students, adults and aspiring members of the media to research specific themes around drugs and alcohol, they are helping to inform themselves and others about the issues involved,

? he added.

“When published or broadcast, their work will hopefully trigger discussion and debate in the wider community, across homes, schools and workplaces all over Ireland.

?

John O’Mahony, News Editor of the Irish Examiner, is joining the judging panel this year.

“The Irish Examiner is excited to be involved with such a worthwhile project that has done so much good work over the years,

? he explained.

“The issue of young people and drugs is something we continue to highlight as a newspaper and any initiatives that engage young adults in debate is worthy of support.

?

Henry McKean from Newstalk 106-108fm and Caroline Twohig from the television channel, 3e, are also on the panel of judges this year.

In partnership with Crimestoppers, a poster category has been added to the competition for 2013 centred on their Freephone number 1800-250025.

It’s hoped that the poster design will encourage people who may have information on drug dealing, to pass on that information to Crimestoppers, confidentially.

The closing date for entering the

‘Let’s Talk About Drugs’ National Media Awards is Friday, May 31. The entry form and more details on the awards is available online at www.drugs.ie.