Teens: how to get drunk and stay drunk

It wasn't the so-called date rape drug slipped into a drink that sent nine college freshman to the hospital. It was an "alcohol energy drink" that did the damage. Our state attorney general Rob McKenna immediately notified the Food and Drug Administration (letter) as a follow up to his office's request a year ago asking the FDA to investigate these drinks.

A quick search on the brand that the teenagers drank at the party tells a story of frequent abuse, little recognition of the dangers of mixing a depressant (alcohol) with a stimulant (caffeine) and the blatant marketing to teenagers.

FDA action so far-- warnings to manufacturers-- resulted in Anhaeuser-Busch ending production of their alcopop. We'll keep watching what happens with this latest news.

We did it!

Prevention Works in Seattle (WINS), the community coalition serving northeast Seattle, was awarded a 2010 Drug Free Communities grant! This five year award will enable us to continue our community-based youth substance abuse prevention work.

From 2006 - 2010, the coalition's grantee was Seattle Public Schools. The DFC grant was written in collaboration with Seattle Children's Hospital which will now act as the coalition's grantee.

Thanks goes out to all who have built the coalition over the past few years and who contributed to our successful grant proposal.

Final post . . . at least for now

The Prevention WINS coalition has been funded by a SPF-SIG grant through the Washington State Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery since 2006. The grant ends next week. In partnership with Seattle Children's Hospital, Prevention WINS has applied for a Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant but, if it is awarded, funds won't kick in until October.

With that in mind, this is my last post for a while. The next post will announce if the coalition will receive DFC funds. So, check back here at the end of August/early September for news about the DFC grant and the coalition.

Thanks goes out to all coalition members who have increased the ability of our community to prevent underage drinking!

Enjoy the summer and I hope to be back with good news before it's over!

Highly involved partners boost coalition success

A recent study evaluated the efforts of the Allies Against Asthma Program, demonstrating that community coalitions with highly involved partnerships are the most successful in producing policy and systems change. The results offer useful implications for anti-drug coalitions to achieve community-level outcomes, according to CADCA's latest Research Into Action bulletin.

At the end of the bulletin, CADCA notes that growing evidence demonstrates that coalitions can achieve community-level outcomes by focusing on policies and systems to affect key health indicators.

The findings also suggest that coalitions with fewer highly engaged partners, as opposed to many less engaged partners, contribute to greater changes.

Clearinghouse expands video library

The Washington State Alcohol & Drug Clearinghouse recently expanded their video lending library. They are also in the process of streaming video clips to their website. The Clearinghouse is a great resource for prevention materials.

Coalition partnerships key to success of Guiding Good Choices

"When it comes to preventing drug and alcohol abuse, there is no one-fits-all approach. It takes solutions that are based on a community's unique problems and circumstances," states CADCA's website. The Prevention WINS coalition is based on this premise: that drug and alcohol problems are different in every community and, therefore, need to be addressed differently in each community by the community.

The implementation of Guiding Good Choices in northeast Seattle is a perfect example of how effective communities can be when we come together. Four years ago, Prevention WINS identified a lack of parental monitoring of teenage children as a factor contributing to underage drinking in northeast Seattle. Using local data as a guide, the coalition chose to implement Guiding Good Choices (GGC), an evidence-based parenting curriculum, to address the needs of our community.

Since then, three organizations have done a great job at offering GGC to parents: Children's Hospital, the University Family YMCA, and Seattle Public Schools. They are a perfect example of what coalition work is really about -- community members coming together and each taking on a role to prevent underage drinking and youth substance use.

Carding everyone

Starting next month, everyone who wants to purchase alcohol in Indiana will need to show identification, regardless of age.

New national council on prevention and health promotion

Earlier this month, President Obama signed an executive order creating a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council. The council will be made up of top administration officials, including the Director of National Drug Control Policy. The council's purpose includes coordination among departments and agencies concerned with prevention, wellness, and health promotion and the development of an integrated health-care strategy that incorporates prevention as a way to improve the health status of Americans.

Why join a substance abuse prevention coalition?

Why do community members get involved in substance abuse prevention coalitions? Check out these short testimonials posted on YouTube by the Circles of San Antonio Community Coalition. A recent CADCA webinar featured their coalition's use of video.

Are parents responsible for underage drinking parties in their homes?

From the New York Times' "Room for Debate": Should Parents Be Jailed When Kids Drink?

As one of the people who commented at the end of the blog points out, the experts who are debating the topic don't all have the same data or research-based understanding of underage drinking and prevention. This is true not only regarding underage drinking but for other drug and alcohol prevention issues. As we, as communities, prepare to engage in debates about prevention, it is essential that we build those debates on what research has shown to be effective. We cannot assume that everyone is aware of how much prevention has evolved and how much more we know now than we did ten years ago. Constant communication and education are needed every step of the way.