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A Tale of Two Cities- brought to you by SAFE and Long Beach Aware Coalitions- Alcohol and Kids, A Dangerous Mix
Hosted by:
SAFE, Inc.
Please briefly describe your Communities Talk activity.
On November 30, the SAFE Inc. and Long Beach coalitions continued their partnership to educate youth and adults about underage alcohol use, binge drinking, and the Social Host Law. The executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence was the guest speaker for the evening. He shared his knowledge on how COVID-19 has caused an increase in alcohol misuse, other substance misuse, and mental illness.
How does alcohol and other drug misuse affect your community?
According to the Bach Harrison Prevention Needs Assessment, Lifetime Use, experimentation with alcohol increases steadily in each grade, with 7.8% of sixth graders, 30.9% of eighth graders, 48.8% of 10th graders, and 59.0% of 12th graders reporting that they have tried alcohol at least once in their lives.
What goal(s) did you hope to accomplish with your Communities Talk activity?
- Create an ongoing conversation about underage drinking and substance use prevention in the community
- Foster collaboration between community stakeholders for continued underage drinking and substance use prevention activities
- Awareness and enforcement of social host laws) to support prevention of underage drinking
- Encourage community and local businesses to implement measures to prevent underage drinking (e.g., restricting or decreasing sales of alcohol at community events; conducting responsible beverage service training)
What challenge(s) did you face in planning your activity this year?
How did you overcome these challenges?
No other challenges affected the planning or execution of our activities.
What are your next steps?
- Support new prevention policies, legislation, or social ordinances
Which Communities Talk resources (or other SAMHSA resources) were most helpful for your activity?
- StopAlcoholAbuse.gov website
- Communities Talk website
Who did you involve in your activity planning, and who did your activity impact?
The SAFE Inc. and Long Beach coalitions are the only prevention organizations located on Long Island, NY. Both coalitions have maintained a collaborative relationship, sharing ideas and troubleshooting on how best to address alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention in our respective cities. Both coalitions are former recipients of Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grants and were the first on Long Island to implement the Social Host Law. Together, coalition leaders met to create a flyer for the event and create a list of public relations venues to promote their event. A full-page ad was taken out in the Glen Cove/Long Beach Herald.
Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the planning or execution of your activities?
No challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic affected the planning or execution of our activities.
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