Miami-Dade schools go red for 35th Annual Red Ribbon Week drug abuse awareness campaign
MIAMI - This is the 35th anniversary of First Lady Nancy Reagan's Red Ribbon Week. It is the largest and longest-running drug-use prevention and awareness campaign, coordinated by the National Family Partnership.
The origin of Red Ribbon Week is traced back to the 1985 torture and murder of a San Diego-based DEA Agent Enrique Camarena who was killed by Mexican drug traffickers.
The tragedy sparked outrage and prompted people to start wearing red ribbons in memory of Camarena, of Calexico, California and as a sign of unity in the War on Drugs.
"Americans started spontaneously wearing the red ribbon as a symbol for drug education and awareness. In 1988, President and Mrs. Reagan declared the last week of October as National Red Ribbon Week," explained Peggy Sapp, President of the National Family Partnership.
The Reagans called on Americans to wear red ribbons as symbols of a national commitment to drug use awareness. This week, landmarks across America are lighting up red. And, an estimated 90,000 schools are displaying red-ribbon designs, according to the National Family Partnership.
Sapp said one in eight U.S. teenagers, nearly 2.1 million children ages 12 - 17, have used an illicit substance. In Florida, 114,000 or 7.87% of 12- to 17-year-olds report using drugs in the last month.
"Right now, the challenge is, so much of our money goes to treatment, law enforcement, drug courts. It's all after the fact. Those things are important, very important, but not as important as prevention. If you really want to solve America's drug problem, put your money on prevention," said Sapp.
All across America, you're going to see buildings and landmarks lit up in red. You're going to see 90,000 schools participating, and hundreds of thousands of families displaying the Red Ribbon symbols. Even military bases will be adorned with red ribbons as a symbol of national unity for drug education and drug prevention.
In observance of Red Ribbon Week, the World's Tallest Digital Red Ribbon, an enormous electronic portrait of Nancy Reagan, and her famous anti-drug slogan, "Say No," are lighting up the 60-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter skyscraper, in downtown Miami.
The building will illuminate from now through Wednesday, October 25, 2023, between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
The Red Ribbon Week display ignites at the top and bottom of every hour, for a duration of two minutes.
Paramount Miami Worldcenter features the world's tallest and most advanced animation lighting system. Across Paramount's 700-foot-high by 300-foot-wide rooftop crown is the swirling image of a double-looped red ribbon. Through the superstructure's 60-story center column are the white words, "Red Ribbon Week." The top-of-the building then morphs into an electronic portrait of Nancy Reagan. Running up the middle of the building are the words, "Say No."
The Paramount Miami Worldcenter skyscraper is composed of five miles of wires connected to 13,400 L.E.D.s embedded in 10,000 panes of high impact-resistant glass. The $3-million Color Kinetics animation lighting system can create a combination of 16.2 million colors. It took three years for a team of 12 technicians to install the system.
It was designed by Gavin Cooper, CEO of L.E.D. Smith, Inc. of West Palm Beach. His work is featured on bridges and buildings, worldwide. Among his projects is the Empire State Building.
