Celeste Clark is the executive director, Raymond Coalition For Youth.

Many people are talking about the president pardoning his son. In the field of substance misuse prevention, we call this an opportunity to raise awareness that substance misuse addiction is a heartbreaking disease. It is important to know it is also one that is completely preventable.

Sadly, far too many people in our country are impacted by the abuse and misuse of drugs, both legal and illegal, each and every day. It doesn’t care where you live, how much money you have or even if your parent is the president of the United States.

Without a doubt, the fallouts of substance misuse and addiction impact one’s current and future life. The “pardon” incident highlights how addiction impacts far more than just an individual’s life but spills over into the family, community, and society in general.

Many parents, and individuals who struggle with addiction, do not have the luxury to access the resources to obtain sobriety, hire high-priced attorneys to help negotiate their way out of such incidents, and certainly don’t have a pardon to fall back upon to make it all go away.

It is fair to say that any parent who has a child who has, or currently is suffering, with addiction could only pray they had the ability to pardon their loved one’s mistakes and indiscretions while they were under the influence of a mind-altering substance. That is just not a reality in the real world and that is probably a good thing.

Accountability is an important part of recovery, if you are lucky enough to access treatment and recovery services. Not to mention that substance misuse addiction is a hard battle to fight and overcome once the individual is ready to get well.

At the end of the day, we have to hope for the best, pray to God for the safety and well-being of those who struggle, and thank God if we are blessed to not know the pain of the situation ourselves.

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We need to remember that we all have the power to stop addiction from ever happening. We need to teach our children to enjoy life without the need to put a mind-altering drug of any sort into their bodies. Adults need to be good role models for children and not glorify and encourage drinking, smoking and drug use. This is no judgment for what adults choose to do, please just don’t do it or talk about it in the presence of impressionable young humans.

Never doubt, substance misuse is not an individual person’s issue. It impacts all of us in society each and every day. Talking about the pardon incident is just an opportunity in the news to highlight the issue, raise awareness, and hopefully help people better understand how important substance misuse prevention is.

This is a call to all adults on why it is so important to talk with the young people in your life and use examples like this. No one wants to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, but you never know when that first drink of alcohol, puff on a vape, or trying a THC gummy, can lead to wanting one more, than another and another. That is how addiction works.

There are many great resources to help with these conversations, or you can contact your local Drug Free Community Coalition located throughout the state, or visit drugfreenh.org for more information.

We can all play a part in keeping our kids safe, aware of what is out there, and informed about their risks and dangers, to help them make healthy choices so no family has to endure the heartache that comes with addiction.