Coalition Stories

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.

Communities with a large concentration of bars and liquor stores pose a risk to both young people and adults, increasing the likelihood for violence or alcohol-impaired driving. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Guide to Preventive Services has endorsed reducing alcohol outlet density as an effective strategy for reducing alcohol-related harms. CADCA member, the Talbot Partnership for Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Prevention, in Maryland, has formed strategic community partnerships that have effectively reduced alcohol outlet density at the local level, proving that people have the power to make their neighborhoods healthier and safer.

Coalitions across the country have another opportunity to contribute to the fight against prescription drug abuse by participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Saturday.

A recent federal crackdown by four United States attorneys on medical marijuana dispensaries offers some hope of relief in a California county. Conflicting or difficult to interpret state and federal laws and regulations have made it challenging for local-level advocates working to reduce youth substance use and abuse.

Marva Moses used to think that the Hickman Mills community of Kansas City, Mo., was a wonderful place for a child to grow up.

Florida Coalitions Have a Prescription for RX Abuse

Florida is on its way to shedding its notorious title of “the Oxy Express” when the governor, with coalition support, signed last month into effect a bill that cracks down on clinics that frivolously dispense pain medication, feeding a statewide and nationwide RX abuse epidemic.

For Seyram Selase, making a difference in his community of Anniston, Ala., has been a journey, both personally and professionally. His journey took him to Africa and to Texas before deciding to return to his hometown to work on his community’s substance abuse problems, primarily alcohol. Selase, 27, is part of a new generation of young adult leaders determined to change the environment.

Doing more with a little is one of the things that Denis Quiñonez, the director of the Boyle Heights Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Community, gained from attending CADCA’s training and being part of its first Ambassador cohorts. Being the only Drug Free Communities grantee in cash-strapped Los Angeles, building capacity has been the greatest asset his coalition has.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing communities right now is prescription drug abuse, with prescription medicines accounting for eight of the top 14 most frequently abused drugs by our nation's youth. The problem is even more pronounced in Maine, which tops the nation in treatment admissions for addiction to prescription narcotics. However, one part of Maine – Aroostook County – is bucking that trend and that's due, in large part, to the efforts of the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Coalition.

Delaware last month joined 15 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical marijuana. From Holland, Michigan to Los Angeles, Calif., coalitions in states that allow medical marijuana have been creating policies banning dispensaries at the local level and a coalition in Montana has been working to repeal its state medical marijuana law altogether.

Between the southeastern Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo—
known best for it’s week-long notorious drinking Carnaval festival—the Coalizão Comunitária Antidrogas de Pindamonhangaba knew their communities had an underage drinking problem. And, like for coalitions in the United States, CADCA was there to help.

When a bouquet of flowers was presented more than a decade ago to the Coalition for a Healthy Community - Oxford, Butler County's (Ohio) first coalition, directed by Karen Murray, as it was called to action as a "Community of Hope" and future DFC recipient, the seeds of success were planted for Murray's involvement in The Butler County Coalition for Healthy, Safe and Drug-Free Communities. Since the coalition's roots, it has helped to achieve significant outcomes.

When the surgeon general talked, Roanoke coalition members listened. And, they implemented. And, they changed.