Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Westgate Resorts owner, wife to launch ‘Victory Clubs’

Couple sees program as another tool to fight drug abuse by youths

Victoria's Voice: An Evening to Save Lives

Richard Brian/Special to the Sun

Victoria Siegel foundation founders Jackie and David Siegel attend “Victoria’s Voice - An Evening to Save Lives” gala presented by the Victoria Siegel Foundation at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, October 25, 2019.

Victoria's Voice: An Evening to Save Lives

Victoria Siegel foundation founders Jackie and David Siegel attend Launch slideshow »

If David Siegel knew then what he knows now about teen drug addiction, he says he could have saved his daughter’s life.

“I was the dumbest person in the world when it came to drugs,” said Siegel, the founder of Westgate Resorts, parent company of Westgate Las Vegas. “Parents are kind of stupid when it comes to knowing what their kids are doing.”

So when a psychiatrist kept increasing the dosage of his daughter Victoria’s Xanax prescription, Siegel didn’t think much of it. At that time, he couldn’t tell you the difference between a Xanax and an Advil. The truth came out in 2015 when at just 18, Victoria died from what was later determined to be an overdose involving the prescription antidepressant Zoloft and methadone. Her path into addiction was mapped in a diary she left behind. It built the framework of a book Siegel and his wife, Jackie, would publish together, called “Victoria’s Voice” and lead them to establish the Victoria Siegel Foundation, which aims to reduce drug experimentation, addiction and overdose deaths among children.

Now the couple want to honor their daughter’s legacy by saving other kids’ lives in fighting the American drug epidemic. This past weekend, the Siegels announced a drug-free incentive program called Victory Clubs. Siegel said he hoped to launch it within the next three months.

The Siegels’ program is modeled after another initiative, Drug Free America Clubs, that started in Ohio. The Drug Free America Clubs program is partnered with 70 schools and claims 70,000 members across Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The program uses confidential drug testing and positive reinforcement as incentives to steer students away from drugs. Siegel wants to take that concept to another level with Victory Clubs.

“Mr. Siegel wanted to make it stronger, and put it on steroids,” said Mina Lu, executive director of the Victoria Siegel Foundation. “(Victory Clubs) give these children awards for choosing to not use.”

Lu said young people who pledge to stay drug free can attain “VIP Status,” with perks that include anything from free movie tickets, discounts to even preferred parking spaces at school by simply presenting their Victory Club credit card. Siegel believes sheer goodwill is incentive enough to motivate other businesses to partner with his program.

“The big incentive here is they’re going to be saving lives,” he said. “The future generation is dying from drug overdoses.”

Siegel and others from the Victoria Siegel Foundation hope to launch a pilot program locally in partnership with the Clark County School District by next year.

The catch is that students who pledge they are “drug-free” are required to take scheduled drug tests and agree to take random tests. Test results are meant to be confidential, Lu said, and no punitive measures will be taken for a failed test outside of losing a Victory Club membership. Those who fail a drug test will be given another chance to get clean, Lu added.

“We are creating a culture where kids who do not use are the cool and privileged kids,” she said. “We also force the conversation on families on how to help their kids stay drug-free. We don’t stigmatize anyone who has been using, we embrace you.”

Siegel said that the confidential drug tests would be a way to hold members accountable without getting them kicked out of school. He believes his method will put a major dent into America’s drug problem.

“We have to end this epidemic at the start … when they’re 14 or 15,” he said. “It’s the only way to do it.”