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Communities Against Substance Abuse is committed to empowering local residents and decision-makers to prevent underage drinking and binge drinking in partnership with a broad representation of community sectors, our work focuses on:
More youth drink alcohol than smoke tobacco or use other illegal drugs. Underage drinking is dangerous. Alcohol is implicated in more than one-third of youth traffic fatalities but alcohol also contributes to the three leading causes of death among young people, including intentional injury and death, homicide and suicide.
Underage drinking is also associated with violence, high risk sex and educational failure. And the younger the drinker the worse these problems become over time. Drinking patterns among local youth are alarming:
- 26% of 11th grade teens report that they like to drink enough to feel it al lot or until really drunk.
- Nearly one-quarter (24%) of area youth (grade 11) report recent binge drinking episodes with 14% binge drinking on 3 or more days in the past month. (View the report)
A 2008 study by the Marin Institute, The Annual Catastrophe of Alcohol in California, estimated the costs of alcohol problems in the state including deaths, incidents, and economic costs to both individuals and to society. The peer reviewed study estimates that the total economic cost of alcohol to California is $38.4 billion annually. This translates to roughly $1,000 per California resident each year. Quality of life (pain and suffering) costs add another $48.8 billion annually.
Alcohol Prevention Initiatives
Youth attitudes and behaviors about alcohol use are often influenced by the environment in which we live, go to school, work and play. Adults determine how, when and where alcohol is available in communities. Community environments effect when and where children see and hear messages about alcohol. Adult decisions about the role of alcohol in a community help define that community’s norms about alcohol which, in turn sends a strong message to teens about how people view alcohol. A community that opposes underage drinking can help change how people think and act. Underage drinking is not inevitable. There is a role for everyone in the community to replace environments that enable underage alcohol use with environments that discourage it.
Communities can come together to encourage a new attitude about underage drinking. We work to empower local residents and neighborhood associations as advocates, often referred to as community mobilization. Research on community mobilization to reduce underage drinking indicates that this can be an effective strategy, especially when communities target population or community-level change. Communities Against Substance Abuse has mentored coalitions to use the Strategic prevention Framework to prevent underage drinking in their communities. Coalitions include:
- Santee Solutions Coalition
- Julian Backcountry Collaborative
- Spring Valley Youth and Family Coalition
Alcohol outlet density and location
Regulating alcohol outlet location and density can be effective strategies to control drinking. Research shows that when alcohol outlets are close together, more drinking occurs and that the more alcohol outlets there are in a neighborhood, the greater risk for crime. Research also demonstrates that binge drinking and driving after drinking among California teens aged 12 to 17 is significantly associated with the presence of alcohol retailers within a half-mile of home. Studies also reveal strong links between violence and alcohol availability. Communities that enact strong land use regulations to control the location and concentration of liquor establishments can reduce alcohol-related problems among youth and adults. We provide technical assistance and campaign leadership in support of community efforts to protect public places, such as parks and youth sensitive areas, as alcohol-free environments and to navigate the complex process of responding to alcohol license applications. Recently Communities Against Substance Abuse has:
- Provided technical support to nearly 400 residents in the rural Dehesa Valley opposing a liquor license at an Indian gaming casino. (2008-2010)
- Mobilized local resident support to City of La Mesa ordinance prohibiting public drinking, an extension of existing alcohol-free parks ordinance. (2009)
- Supported the City of El Cajon in developing alcohol outlet density regulations, specifically a moratorium on new liquor stores within the city.
- Continues to push back on industry efforts to erode local control mechanisms.
Commercial accountability to prevent over-service and youth access
Although it is illegal to sell or give alcohol to youth under age 21, they don’t have a hard time getting it, and they often get it from adults. 75% of area teens (grade 11) report that alcohol is easy to get. Strategies that limit access to alcohol by youth – or by the population in general – are some of the most powerful and well-documented approaches to reducing underage drinking and related problems. Communities Against Substance abuse provided youth decoys and media advocacy support to El Cajon Police Department’s ABC GAP grant (2007/2008). Over the course of the grant retail sales to minors were reduced from a high of 58% (6/07) to only 3% (5/08) and shoulder-tap (third party transactions) also dropped from 32% of adults contacted purchasing alcohol for the minor (10/07) to 5.7% (5/08). During the project, Communities Against Substance Abuse media advocacy campaign generated six print news stories and 19 television news stories supporting the rigorous and consistent enforcement of underage drinking laws.
Commercial accountability is essential to prevent over-service and the threat to the public’s safety associated with alcohol impairment. The best strategies for prevention include merchant education paired with community monitoring and enforcement. The East County Hospitality Resource Panel (ECHRP) was established by Communities Against Substance Abuse in 1996 to foster responsible principles and practices in the sale and service of alcohol beverages through collaborative efforts between food and beverage industry, government and prevention organizations to enhance the quality of life and economic stability in the region. As a voluntary alliance, the ECHRP recognizes that through training and model business practices risks associated with alcohol sales and services can be minimized. Activities have included:
- Working with municipal court judges to ensure appropriate sanctions for merchants who sell alcohol to minors. The campaign resulted in the highest possible penalty for sales to minors to include completion of responsible sales and service training program for violators. (2005)
- Coordinating all logistics in partnership with California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to ensure ongoing regional access to Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD) training on a monthly basis.
- Training volunteer “secret shoppers” to conduct assessments at problematic alcohol licensees. Assessment reports are validated and meetings are conducted with licensed establishment owner/managers to discuss recommended solutions.
- Advocating for policies to require all sellers and servers of alcohol to complete state-approved training as a condition of employment.
- Developed and facilitates a State-certified Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service (RASS) training program. The training is designed to encourage a responsible, caring, and professional approach by licensees and servers to the sales and service of alcoholic beverages and to prevent underage and irresponsible drinking in commercial establishments. Research indicates that RASS training and compliance checks help prevent over-service and alcohol sales to minors. Strong house policies and well trained staff protect the business and the community.
- Conduct Special Event Server Trainings to organizations or groups with a temporary or special event permit issued by California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to sell alcoholic beverages. To learn more go to Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service.
If you are a member of the food or beverage industry, government, prevention organization, or a concerned community member and would like to get involved in ECHRP please contact Lorenzo Higley.
Prevent youth access to alcohol in social settings
Underage drinking parties often take place at private residences where parents, older relatives or friends provide the alcohol. Sometimes parents allow underage drinking parties under the misperception that teens are going to drink anyway and that a home party provides a safer environment. Unfortunately, house parties are the highest risk drinking environments. All, but one, of the 18 municipalities in San Diego County have adopted social host ordinances to hold party “hosts” accountable when underage drinking occurs at their home. All too often, however these ordinances have passed with little or no community education campaign to inform residents of this powerful law enforcement tool to prevent underage drinking.
Communities Against Substance Abuse is implementing a strategic community education campaign in partnership with local law enforcement and education partners to change community norms and attitudes about underage drinking. We will:
- Use authentic community voices through local traditional and non-traditional media sources to urge support for social host enforcement and holding party hosts accountable.
- Work with crime-free multi-unit housing to include social host addendums along with manager and resident information materials.
- Coordinate and collaborate with education and parent organizations to increase the volume of adults call for alcohol and drug free youth social gathering and celebrations.
- Collaborate with local law enforcement to increase resources to support party-patrols and media advocacy campaign.
We anticipate that our efforts will 1) reduce the number of adults willing to risk hosting teen drinking parties, 2) increase adult voices calling for alcohol-free youth environments, and 3) increase calls to law enforcement when underage drinking parties do occur.
Youth leadership development to reduce exposure to alcohol advertising
A substantial proportion of alcohol advertising reaches an underage audience and is presented in a style that is attractive to youth. In addition, alcohol advertising is often focused on culture, gender and family-centered holiday themes. At Communities Against Substance Abuse, our approach to alcohol prevention empowers and engages young people as prevention advocates for safe and nurturing communities. Students Together Against Alcohol N’ Drug youth interns have participated in a countywide Cinco de Mayo alcohol marketing initiative to address this problem. Over the coming years STAAND’s participation in responsible retailer promotional policies will expand to a year-round campaign, beyond Cinco de Mayo, to include multiple cultural holidays and events such as St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Super Bowl and New Year’s Eve.
For more information on Communities Against Substance Abuse alcohol prevention initiatives, please contact Dana Stevens. |
