Being a youth leader is SRSLY the best honor ever for Ananth Ghosh. The high school student was honored by CADCA recently as its 2016 Outstanding Youth Leader.<\/p>\n
The Outstanding Youth Award recognizes an outstanding young person for service to a coalition and preventing substance abuse.<\/p>\n
Ananth, 17, accepted his award during CADCA\u2019s 26th annual National Leadership Forum to a standing ovation. He told the crowd of coalition leaders about how he was bullied as an elementary school student and applied his insecurity into action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told I wasn\u2019t going to do anything important, but I sure did,\u201d Ananth said.<\/p>\n
Ananth joined the SRSLY Coalition in Chelsea, Mich., in the 6\u0439<\/sup>\u00a0grade, at the age of 11. In 2012, he became President of the Coalition’s Youth Steering Committee. The coalition has implemented a prescription drug disposal program called the Red Barrel. With the implementation of this program, Ananth\u2019s coalition saw a 50 percent decrease in prescription drug use in his age group.<\/p>\n To attack the problem of marijuana, the coalition presented to their city council suggesting a ban on the sale of drug paraphernalia in the city limits. His group also provided parent education, partnering with doctors about the dangers of marijuana. Today, more than 65 percent of middle and high school students see marijuana as a harmful drug.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was great because, our high school marijuana use decreased,\u201d Ananth said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an age when young people have so many negative influences, Ananth has not just ignored these influences, but he actually helped mobilize other youth advocates to make meaningful changes in his community,\u201d said CADCA Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur Dean. \u201cHe is a true leader, inspiring others to create positive changes in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Ananth attended the National Youth Leadership Initiative trainings over the years and attended its train-the-trainer sessions for the past year and half. He recently became an NYLI training consultant.<\/p>\n A busy junior in high school, Ananth spoke to CADCA in between arriving home from school from taking his SAT and tutoring a fellow student in chemistry. He wants to continue to be involved in the SRSLY coalition, as a CADCA trainer, and pursue his degree in corporate law, specializing in public policy. He has his sights set on several colleges, including Yale University.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely want to continue to be involved in policy change to make future generations safe from drug abuse and misuse,\u201d Ananth said.<\/p>\n Of all his accomplishments so far in life, Ananth said receiving CADCA\u2019s Outstanding Youth Leader award is one of the highlights.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first I was really confused because there are so many other youth who are doing outstanding things, but then I just felt really honored,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He plans to continue work with SRSLY (which, by the way, is text shorthand for \u201cseriously\u201d) reducing marijuana use in his community and to raise awareness about prescription drug abuse.<\/p>\n Learn more about the NYLI.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Being a youth leader is SRSLY the best honor ever for Ananth Ghosh. The high school student was honored by<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"template":"","resource_type":[281],"drug_specific_issues":[315],"action_to_do":[293],"class_list":["post-17548","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry","resource_type-coalitions-online","drug_specific_issues-marijuana","action_to_do-engage-youth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n