Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10729.html
Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous – both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks – and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol.
Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which many different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.
Action on Alcohol & Teens (AAT)
http://www.winternet.com/~martinez/index.html
This network of Minnesota citizens works to reduce youth access to alcohol. AAT is seeking to change state and local policies that would hold both merchants and other adults accountable for selling or giving alcohol to underage persons. The web site includes information about the program and its strategies, and includes a compilation of fact sheets and resources on youth access to alcohol.
Alcohol Cost Calculator for Kids
http://www.alcoholcostcalculator.org/kids/
The Alcohol Cost Calculator for Kids, a web-based application, allows communities to arm themselves with locally-relevant data by immediately generating a report on the extent of serious drinking problems and alcoholism among adolescents. Research scientists at George Washington University Medical Center created the tool to help parents, teachers and law makers calculate the toll of alcohol problems in their community.
Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV
http://cspinet.org/booze/CAFST/
Organized through the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV seeks to reduce the amount of alcoholic-beverage advertising to underage children and young adults who tune into televised sports for fun.
The Century Council
http://www.centurycouncil.org/
The Century Council supports a variety of initiatives that advance strategies to reduce underage drinking and youth access to alcohol. The Council’s web site has pages devoted to enforcement efforts, such as Cops In Shops and the Front Lines program (promotional materials for minimum purchase age awareness and enforcement). The site further describes the Council’s involvement in efforts to pass zero tolerance laws and legislation allowing administrative license revocation for the prevention of impaired driving. Educational programs for parents, teens, and college students are also featured at this web site.
Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking (CCSUD)
http://drugsdontwork.org
The Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking (CCSUD) was established in February 1997 to change a wide range of social factors that contribute to underage drinking. The Coalition comprises more than 700 public agencies, private sector organizations and concerned citizens. Its mission is to stop underage alcohol use and its related social harms by bringing about long-term change at the state and local levels.
DSHS Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse/ Prevention
http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/dasa
The Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse promotes strategies that support healthy lifestyles by preventing the misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and support recovery from the disease of chemical dependency.
FACE: Truth and Clarity about Alcohol
http://faceproject.org/
The FACE (Facing Alcohol Concerns through Education) web site describes the organization’s focus on media development, training, and advocacy. Links to the product catalog and order form provide access to videos, commercials, outdoor advertising, and print materials that address the health and safety risks associated with alcohol. These media, and FACE training sessions as well, may be of particular interest to those working in the area of community norms.
MADD Youth In Action
http://www.youthinaction.org
In 1996, MADD announced its new partnership with concerned youth to combat underage drinking and the #1 drug problem among youth in America — ALCOHOL. Lack of enforcement of the 21 drinking age laws, easy access to alcohol, irresponsible alcohol marketing practices, lack of youth education and prevention programs, and parents who condone underage drinking as a “rite of passage” all contribute to alcohol being the number one drug of choice among youth today. In response, MADD has developed a community based youth program called Youth In Action (YIA). These teams of young people are working on projects that are helping to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors.
The following coalitions are funded through The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and have developed their own web sites to assist prevention advocates within their states and elsewhere work effectively to combat underage drinking.
Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking
http://drugsdontwork.org/ctcoal_home.htm
Georgia Alcohol Policy Partnership
http://www.livedrugfree.org/HTML25.phtml
Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking
http://www.mentalhealthassociation.com/ICRUD.htm
Minnesota Join Together Coalition to Reduce Underage Alcohol Use
http://miph.org/mjt
Missouri’s Youth/Adult Alliance Against Underage Drinking
http://myaa.org
National Capital Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking
http://nccpud.com
North Carolina Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking
http://rudpartners.org
Oregon Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking
http://www.orpartnership.org
Pennsylvanians against Underage Drinking
http://alcoholfreeyouth.org
Texans Standing Tall
http://www.texansstandingtall.com