Launching Nevada’s Underage Drinking Prevention Awareness Day
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Access for Community and Cultural Community Programs and Trainings
Reno, Nevada
INTRODUCTION
Although alcohol sales to anyone under age 21 are illegal, Nevada has an estimated 92,000 youth who drink underage. Furthermore, these youth drink more heavily than adults, averaging 3.9 drinks per day, compared with 1.7 drinks per day for those ages 21 and older.
University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) freshman Sabrina Budner is one young adult apprehended for illegal alcohol use. Caught drinking by campus police, Budner voluntarily enrolled in an intervention program for students who have misused alcohol and drugs. The experience put her on a new course. In March 2014, Budner began volunteering with ACCEPT (Access for Community and Cultural Community Programs and Trainings), a nonprofit agency in Reno that provides outreach services and substance misuse prevention for parents and children. Under the direction of ACCEPT executive director Gwen Taylor, Budner used the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) underage drinking prevention proclamation template to draft a state proclamation. Nevada governor Brian Sandoval signed the document, designating May 4, 2014, as Nevada’s Underage Drinking Awareness Day, with Secretary of State Reis Miller as co-signer. Budner obtained additional endorsements from U.S. Senator Harry Reid and Reno’s 2014 Mayor Bob Cashell.
ACCEPT, which began hosting SAMHSA-supported underage drinking prevention Town Hall Meetings in 2008, saw this statewide observance on May 14 as an appropriate time to host another event.
EVENT DESCRIPTION
ACCEPT’s director was joined by staffer Anne Cates and UNR student Alita Requena in coordinating a Town Hall Meeting panel focused on four underage drinking topics: access and availability of alcohol to minors, peer pressure to drink, mental and physical consequences of underage drinking, and legal consequences. Addressing a perceived lack of understanding of alcohol laws among many Reno adults was an ACCEPT objective for the program. The event also would serve to introduce and build support for the new Northern Nevada Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Families (NNFBCHF), which ACCEPT’s Development and Evaluation Officer, Sherria Taylor, Ph.D., worked with Gwen Taylor to help develop. Some of ACCEPT’s strategies to attract attendees included scheduling the Sunday event at 3:00 p.m., an hour convenient for parishioners and families attending neighboring churches, and serving donated pizza.
A diverse group of speakers follows:
- Sabrina Budner, UNV student
- Shalani Taylor, Reid High School student
- Kitty Jung, Washoe County Commissioner
- Alex Woodley, City of Reno Compliance Officer
- Jo Harvey, Ph.D., UNR Program Specialist for Student Conduct
- Pastor Glenn E. Taylor, Sr.
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
Parents attending the Town Hall Meeting said that they had gained important new knowledge, especially about alcohol laws and law enforcement strategies, such as local use of compliance checks to reduce alcohol sales to minors. Several participating church leaders agreed to promote and support the work of the new regional faith-based coalition. The event drew coverage of underage drinking on Reno television channels KTVN (channel 2), KRNV (channel 4), and KOLO (channel 8). One station ran a 15-minute segment on underage drinking, and two stations repeated showings of public education messages that ACCEPT helped them obtain.
NEXT STEPS
Encouraged by responses to their 2014 event, ACCEPT, as a partner and fiscal agent for NNFBCHF, decided to submit an application for a SAMHSA Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant, in order to expand underage drinking prevention efforts in Washoe County. In addition, ACCEPT planned to increase communication and collaboration with other Nevada coalitions engaged in underage drinking prevention, such as the Join Together of Northern Nevada coalition, while committing ongoing support for the emerging NNFBCHF.
CONTACT
Gwen Taylor
Gwent@acceptonline.org
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