National Crime Prevention Council

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as Washington, the District, or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern border with Virginia, and it shares a land border with Maryland on its other sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father, commanding general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and the district is named after Columbia, the female personification of the nation. Washington is the southern point of the Northeast megalopolis, a major cultural, political, and economic corridor along the northeastern coast of the United States running from Boston to Washington, D.C.. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. It is one of the most visited cities in the U.S., with over 20 million annual visitors as of 2016.

Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Generally, recreational drugs are divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.

Violence is "the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy". Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."

McGruff the Crime Dog is an anthropomorphic animated bloodhound created by Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising executive Jack Keil through the Ad Council and later the National Crime Prevention Council to increase crime awareness and personal safety in the United States. McGruff costumes are used by police outreach efforts, often with children. McGruff was created in 1979 and debuted in 1980 with a series of public service announcements educating citizens on personal security measures, such as locking doors and putting lights on timers, in order to reduce crime. His name was selected as part of a nationwide contest in July 1980.