HARRISBURG – To assist in getting out the message of drug use prevention to young people across the commonwealth, the state Senate has recognized March 28, 2025, as “Drugs Kill Dreams Day” in Pennsylvania, according to Sen. Joe Pittman (R-41), sponsor of a resolution creating the day.
In 1994, Armstrong County Magisterial District Judge J. Gary DeComo first established a drug abuse prevention program with the intent of creating opportunities within the local community to educate elementary school students on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse.
Twenty-five years ago in 2000, Judge DeComo took the program a step further by adopting the famous “Drugs Kill Dreams” slogan, after he saw the saying prominently displayed on a posterboard created by a fourth-grade student, Tara Powers, during an anti-drug poster contest at Lenape Elementary School.
“Judge DeComo sought to increase drug and alcohol prevention awareness in schools and communities throughout western Pennsylvania, with the ‘Drugs Kill Dreams’ program, based on the strong belief that if we increase prevention efforts, we will decrease addiction and crimes committed by individuals with an addiction,” Pittman said.
Research shows that proactive approaches work to reduce substance abuse among young adults if they are part of a community-based prevention effort while still in elementary and middle school.
The objective of these programs is to stop drug and alcohol addiction and abuse before it begins, encouraging adolescents to live healthy, respectful, safe and responsible lifestyles – a goal worth statewide recognition.
“Drugs Kill Dreams partners with schools, churches and other community organizations to share educational materials and prevention messages to young people,” Pittman said. “Together we can help bring increased attention to the very negative and very harmful consequences of drug use.”
Media Contact: Kate Flessner