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Underage drinking can cause a multitude of problems within the community, making it crucial for community- and faith-based organizations to take action to prevent children from starting to drink alcohol. Below are Federal resources for community and faith-based organizations to use in helping to combat this issue at the local level.

Acting Surgeon General Issues National Call to Action on Underage Drinking 
Office of the Surgeon General
This news release describes Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu’s, M.D., M.P.H., national Call to Action on underage drinking and what this call to action involves.

Acting U.S. Surgeon General Kicks Off Nationwide Series of Town Hall Meetings to Address Underage Drinking 
Office of the Surgeon General
This news release describes Acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson kicking off a nationwide series of more than 1,600 Town Hall Meetings in March and April to encourage action against underage drinking.

Alcohol Alert No. 59. Underage Drinking: A Major Public Health Challenge 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This Alcohol Alert describes some of the most harmful consequences of underage drinking, as well as prevention and treatment approaches that can be applied successfully to meet the unique needs of this age group.

Alcohol Alert No. 73: Underage Drinking—Highlights From The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This Alcohol Alert describes some of the main aspects of the Call to Action, issued by the Acting Surgeon General in 2007 to describe the nature and consequences of underage alcohol use and to encourage systemic change to prevent and reduce underage drinking. This Alert describes the goals and strategies of the Call to Action, the link between adolescent development and alcohol use, and the current culture of underage alcohol use.

Alcohol Policy Information System 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) is an online resource that provides detailed information on a wide variety of alcohol-related policies in the United States at both State and Federal levels. It features compilations and analyses of alcohol-related statutes and regulations. Designed primarily as a tool for researchers, APIS simplifies the process of ascertaining the state of the law for studies on the effects and effectiveness of alcohol-related policies.

Alcohol Policy Information System

Building Community Capacity to Prevent Underage Drinking 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC published this project model based on training and technical assistance to build the capacity of and empower the rural, community-based organizations of Iowa to prevent adolescent drinking. The project uses qualitative and quantitative measures to determine if increasing adult accountability through countywide keg registration impacts adolescent drinking.

Community How To Guides On Underage Drinking 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
These Community How To Guides address fundamental components of planning and implementing a comprehensive underage drinking prevention program. The guides are designed to be brief, easy to read, and easy to use. Each guide contains a resource section to assist readers in obtaining additional and detailed information about the topics covered in that guide. The appendices include useful tools for each topic area that provide coalitions and organizations with a jump-start in their planning and implementation activities.

Community How To Guides On Underage Drinking

Focus On Prevention 
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
This guide was developed to help a wide range of groups and communities move from concerns about substance abuse to proven and practical solutions. It is a starting point that offers brief, practical, and easy-to-read information that is useful in planning and delivering prevention strategies.

Llamado a la acción del Cirujano General para prevenir y reducir el consumo de alcohol por menores de edad: Lo que significa para usted—Guía de acción para las comunidades 
Office of the Surgeon General
This Spanish-language guide, based on The Surgeon General’s Call to Action, targets parents, schools, community leaders, and others who are concerned about underage alcohol use. It describes why underage alcohol use is a problem and what communities can do to address this major public health and safety issue.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Initiative on Underage Drinking 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This initiative is an undertaking borne of the convergence of recent scientific advances and increased public concern about the seriousness of this longstanding societal problem.

Press conference to launch The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking—Speech by Acting Surgeon General in Washington, DC 
Office of the Surgeon General
In this speech, the Acting Surgeon General, RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu, launches the Call to Action at a press conference in Washington, DC, by addressing alcohol use by America’s children and teenagers. He emphasizes how everyone has a role in reducing underage drinking.

Reach Out Now National Teach-In 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
To further alert children, parents, and teachers about the dangers of underage alcohol use, and to reinforce the messages in these school-based materials, SAMHSA encourages prominent national, State, and local leaders to conduct Teach-Ins for fifth- and/or sixth-grade classrooms nationwide during April each year. The already-prepared Teach-In curriculum focuses on the lessons in the Reach Out Now materials.

Reach Out Now National Teach-In

SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs & Practices 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
NREPP is a searchable database of interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. SAMHSA has developed this resource to help individuals, agencies, and organizations implement programs and practices in their communities.

SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS) Web site on Underage Drinking 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA's OAS collects and reports on national and State data to assist policymakers, treatment providers and patients make informed decisions regarding the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. This specific site on underage drinking includes reports on underage drinking, detailed tables on underage and legal age drinking, SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, current rates of underage drinking by race/ethnicity, region, and size of metropolitan area, and underage drinking trends by State and region.

Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 
Office of the Surgeon General
Learn about the Call to Action in this address, including why it was issued, who it is for, and what it involves.

The Party’s Over: Radio PSA 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
These radio PSAs include two announcements directed toward parents and three toward adolescents. The adolescent PSAs are available in a variety of music versions, and you can now listen to them online.

The Risks and Challenge of Underage Drinking—Speech by Acting Surgeon General in Nebraska 
Office of the Surgeon General
In this speech, the Acting Surgeon General, RADM Steven K. Galson, thanks the people in Nebraska for their commitment to improving the health of Americans. He describes his priorities and then discusses underage drinking, particularly the scope of the problem nationally and locally and its secondhand effects. He encourages the community to collaborate and continue their efforts to decrease underage drinking.

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking: What It Means to You―A Guide to Action for Communities 
Office of the Surgeon General
This guide gives you the knowledge and tools you need to take action against underage drinking. It tells you about underage alcohol use and the damage it can do. And, it suggests ways you can end underage drinking in your community and across the country.

Too Smart To Start 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Too Smart To Start is a public education intitiative that consists of evidence-based materials to help professionals and volunteers conduct underage alcohol use prevention programs in their communities. The materials are designed to educate 9- to 13-year-olds about the harms of alcohol use and to support parents and caregivers as they participate in their children's activities.

Too Smart To Start

Too Smart To Start Implementation Guide 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The materials contained in this guide are designed to help you plan, develop, promote, and implement a local initiative to educate 9- to 13-year-olds and their parents about the harms of underage alcohol use and to support parents and caregivers as they participate in their children’s activities.

Too Smart To Start Implementation Guide

Underage Alcohol Use: Findings from the 2002–2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
This report presents findings from the 2002 to 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUHs) on the use of alcohol by persons aged 12 to 20. NSDUH is an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 or older and is conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This report examines trends in alcohol use from 2002 to 2006 among underage persons and variations in underage drinking and alcohol use disorders across demographic groups and geographic areas.

Underage Drinking in Wyoming and Elsewhere—Speech by Acting Surgeon General in Wyoming 
Office of the Surgeon General
In this speech, the Acting Surgeon General, RADM Steven K. Galson, thanks the people in Wyoming for their commitment to improving the health of Americans. He describes his priorities and then discusses underage drinking, particularly the scope of the problem nationally and locally and its secondhand effects. He encourages the community to collaborate and continue their efforts to decrease underage drinking.




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Last Reviewed on 2/27/2009