While we are deeply grateful and proud of the results we’ve seen with the teenagers at Youth Detention Centres, a sobering reality persists in our hearts:

 it would have been so much better if we had reached these young people before they ever came into contact with ICE. The harsh truth is that prevention—before they are ever offered the drug—is not just preferable, it is critical.

Imagine the lives we could have saved, the pain we could have spared, and the futures we could have helped protect if we had been there before they took that first step into the abyss of addiction. For each young person we now support in the detention centres, our hearts break for the lives they have lost to ICE—lives that could have been different, had they received guidance and support before they fell victim to this insidiously addictive and destructive drug.

The truth is that ICE does not just steal lives, it shatters futures, destroys families, and often leads these young people down a path of crime, trauma, and despair. The devastating ripple effects stretch far beyond the individual—affecting parents, siblings, friends, and entire communities. We are witnessing, day in and day out, the wreckage left in the wake of ICE addiction, and it’s heartbreaking.

We know that once a person becomes addicted to ICE, the journey to recovery is incredibly difficult and often painful. Yes, we are proud of the progress we’ve made with the teenagers in detention, and we are deeply moved by their courage to embrace recovery. But if we are to truly make a difference on a larger scale, we must act before addiction takes hold. Prevention must become the cornerstone of our efforts, because while we can support recovery, we can prevent so much suffering if we can stop people from ever starting down that path in the first place.

There’s no question that the cost of addiction is devastating—but the cost of not acting sooner is immeasurable. We are not just fighting to help those already suffering, we are fighting to prevent future suffering, to save lives before they are destroyed.

That’s why we are committed to reaching young people before they ever face the choice—to intervene early and offer the support, education, and guidance they need to make healthier choices and avoid the lure of ICE altogether. We want to be there before the drug is even offered, offering them the knowledge and the strength to say “no” to that first dangerous step. If we can prevent just one person from touching ICE, from being lured into that dark world of addiction, we will have made a profound difference.

The power of prevention is immeasurable. It is about saving lives before they spiral into chaos, it’s about offering hope where there would otherwise be despair, and about giving young people the chance to create a future free from the grip of addiction. The work we do today to prevent addiction from taking root is the foundation of a healthier, stronger community tomorrow. And that’s why prevention is better than cure—it’s not just a mantra, it’s the mission that drives us every day.

We will continue to fight for those who are struggling, but we will also intensify our efforts to intervene before it’s too late—to provide young people with the tools and support they need to avoid ICE and make better choices for their future. This is the fight we must all be a part of, and we can’t do it without your help. Together, we can create a future where fewer young lives are lost to addiction, and where the ripple effects of ICE never reach our communities in the first place.