Advocacy

If you’re coming to CADCA’s National Leadership Forum – held just outside of Washington, D.C. Feb. 6-9 – but don’t currently have an appointment set up with your member of Congress, then you’re in luck because CADCA will make an appointment for you. Unlike in previous years, CADCA will set up your appointment even if your group has fewer than five people. All you have to do is fill out a request form and submit it to Lindsay Houff at lhouff@cadca.org or by fax to (703) 706-0565.

If you haven’t already, register now for the Capitol Hill Day webinar on Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. (EST) to help you make the most out of your visit to our nation’s capital! The webinar will help prepare you in advance for your meetings with your members of Congress. The public policy team will walk you through the steps on how and why to schedule appointments with your Representatives and Senators, what to bring with you and how to best conduct your meetings on Capitol Hill Day.

Not old enough to vote? That doesn’t matter when you are a youth coalition member wanting to affect change in your community via public policy. Learn some tried-and-true “do’s and don’ts” from youth who have achieved advocacy success in Kentucky.

Emerging drugs under the guise of everyday products like “bath salts,” “glass cleaner,” “plant food,” “jewelry cleaner,” and “spice” have caused a public health concern during the past few years. Use of these drugs that are absorbed by the body like marijuana and cocaine has skyrocketed all over the country, especially by youth, who find this new class of drugs easily accessible in many stores and online.

Capitol Hill Day, Wednesday, Feb. 8, is one of the most exciting events at CADCA’s National Leadership Forum, providing participants from across the country the opportunity to educate policymakers in Congress about the importance of substance abuse prevention.

Earlier this week, the House and Senate created a “minibus” bill, which wraps three FY 2012 appropriations bills into one. The three appropriations bills include: (1) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) (2) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, and (3) Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. The conference report for the minibus indicates that the bill contains $5 million in FY 2012 funding for the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program.

On Tuesday, the new Congressional Youth Drug Prevention Caucus, led by Congressman Sandy Levin (I-Mich.) and Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) held its very first briefing on the Drug Free Communities (DFC) Program. The panel included CADCA's Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur T. Dean, Benjamin Tucker of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Hilarie Chambers of Congressman Sandy Levin's office, Greg Puckett, Executive Director of Community Connections, Inc., and Sue Thau, CADCA's Public Policy Consultant.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the White House turned down all eight e-petitions to legalize and/or regulate marijuana, almost a week before deadline.

Alcohol Justice, formerly Marin Institute, in California, has asked for health advocates to make public comments against Phusion Projects, makers of the infamous Four Loko beverages, and its proposed agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to discontinue marketing its new “supersized,” re-sealable containers.

There is only one week remaining to get 25,000 signatures on CADCA’s petition to raise the profile of effective drug prevention on the White House’s “We the People” website. We need your help now more than ever! If we can get 25,000 people to sign on to the petition by Nov. 4, then the Administration will discuss the issue with his cabinet members.

If you care about preventing and reducing substance abuse, then we need your help right now! CADCA has posted a petition to raise the profile of effective drug prevention on the White House’s “We the People” website. If we can get 25,000 people to sign on to the petition by Nov. 4, then the Administration will discuss the issue.