About This Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service joins the effort to raise awareness about the dangers of drug use with the release of the Drug Free USA stamp.
Featuring original artwork by Aaron Draplin, the stamp depicts a white star with lines of red, light blue, and blue radiating from one side of each of the star’s five points, suggesting the unity necessary at all levels to effectively address drug use. Greg Breeding designed the stamp and was the typographer. William J. Gicker was the art director.
Drug use can have negative impacts not only on individual health and functioning, but also on the well-being of families and entire communities. Recent surveys indicate that more than 50 million Americans age 12 or older — nearly one in five people — have used an illicit drug in the previous year, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose is a leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S.
To fully address drug use requires a unified effort at every level of the community. Research has demonstrated that children are less likely to use drugs, alcohol, and tobacco when their parents or other adults communicate clearly and consistently about the risks. Educators, health care professionals, and policymakers can all play a role in addressing drug use through prevention and early intervention.
National Recovery Month, observed annually in September, raises awareness about the effectiveness of substance use disorder treatment and mental health services and serves as an important reminder that recovery is possible. The Red Ribbon Week® campaign, which takes place in schools and communities nationwide every year from October 23 through October 31, helps parents as well as teachers, business owners, and neighborhood organizations promote drug use awareness. Participants wear a red ribbon or red to symbolize their dedication to preventing drug use. The annual campaign is sponsored by the National Family Partnership.
The Drug Free USA stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director
William Gicker
William Gicker served as Director of Stamp Services for the U.S. Postal Service from 2020 until his retirement in 2023. In that position he oversaw stamp development, stamp products and exhibitions, stamp manufacturing, stamp fulfillment, and the Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC).
Gicker began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1998. Initially assistant editor of USA Philatelic, the quarterly stamp catalog produced by Stamp Services, he soon became editor where he oversaw the catalog’s award-winning program until 2013.
Named creative director of stamps in 2001, Gicker became manager and creative director of Stamp Development in 2015. Working closely with Postal Service art directors and CSAC, he managed the creative development and quality control of more than 800 stamp issuances and 1,700 individual stamp designs.
He has served as art director for some of the most popular stamps issued by the Postal Service: the five-year Art of Disney series; Star Wars; Holy Family; Harry Potter; and Hot Wheels. As both art director and designer, Gicker lists among his many stamps, Holiday Baubles; the first international rate Global stamp in 2013; and the Gifts of Friendship joint issuance with Japan. He was also art director for the first stamp to celebrate Diwali, eight more Global Forever® stamps, and several Christmas Madonna and Child issuances, the most recent in 2024.
A native of Pennsylvania, Gicker graduated from West Chester University with a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature. He and his family live in Washington, DC.
Stamp Designer
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Stamp Artist
Aaron Draplin
Aaron James Draplin was born in 1973 in Detroit and grew up in Traverse City, Michigan. He earned a degree in visual communications from Northwestern Michigan College in 1993 and in 2000 graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
He became an art director for Snowboarder Magazine in Southern California. After a stint at the Cinco Design Office in Oregon, he struck out on his own in 2004, forming Draplin Design Co. Based in Portland, Oregon, the graphic design and illustration company’s clients have included Esquire, Wired, Nike, Patagonia, Ford Motor Company, the Barack Obama administration, Sub Pop, and country star Chris Stapleton.
Draplin also created Field Notes, a popular line of memo books sold around the world. His first book, Pretty Much Everything, was published in 2016 and is now in its seventh printing. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Draplin's projects for the U.S. Postal Service include Star Ribbon (2019) and Drug Free USA (2020).