Drugs & Driving, A Call to Action Conference – rave reviews!
MADD Hawaii, in collaboration with The Queen’s Health Systems, Hawaii State Department of Health, Hawaii State Department of Transportation and Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii, presented a one-day conference – Drugs & Driving – A Call to Action – on Thursday, October 11 at the Queen’s Conference Center. The conference focused on drug impaired driving in the 16 to 28 year old age range.
National and local speakers and panel discussions presented current data, challenges and information about drugs and driving in Hawaii and across the nation. During the afternoon sessions the attendees met in small groups to develop recommendations to begin addressing the serious drugs and driving issue.
The National speakers included:
- Colleen Sheehey-Church, MADD National President, whose son was killed in a drug and alcohol related crash
- Staci Hoff, PhD, Research Director, Washington Traffic Safety Commission – Research & Data
- Chief Robert Ticer, Loveland Police Department, Colorado – Law Enforcement & Training
- Michael Sandoval, New Mexico Department of Transportation – Communication & Education
- JT Griffin, MADD National, Chief Government Affairs Officer – Moderator
The Hawaii panel included: Brian Bonifant, Drug Enforcement Agency, Dan Galanis, PhD, Epidemiologist, Hawaii Department of Health, Captain Benjamin Moszkowicz, Honolulu Police Department, Justin Kollar, Prosecuting Attorney, Kauai, Edward Mersereau, Chief, Hawaii Department of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, Anthony Mendez, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and Kurt Kendro, retired Major, Honolulu Police Department as moderator.
A lunchtime panel – Insiring Youth Engagement – featured Sitarani Crevier, Senior Director at The Bennet Group, as moderator for a group of youth and young Adult Ambassadors from Kamehameha Schools & Hawaii Pacific University.
MADD Hawaii would like to thank all the speakers, planning and logistic committee volunteers, MADD board members and community volunteers who made this event a success. For more information and links to the presentations visit the Drug Impaired Driving Project page here.
