Environmental Strategies

Prescription drugs are being misused and abused at alarming rates throughout the United States. As part of their efforts to address this problem, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is sponsoring a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on September 25. On that day, the DEA will collect potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction at sites nationwide from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Virginia's SAFE Coalition has received the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors 2010 National Exemplary Award for Innovative Substance Abuse Prevention Programs, Practices, and Policies for decreasing lifetime inhalant use among eighth-graders in their county.

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

On the same New Mexican desert grounds where today's space-age missiles are tested, 10,000-year-old arrowheads have been found and the city of Hatch is known as the "Green Chile capital of the world." Unfortunately, New Mexico has long ranked among the states with the highest per capita number of alcohol-related crashes, with Native Americans and Hispanics having higher-than-average rates. But this is changing due to a host of policy and environmental approaches.

With slogans some say are more memorable than their food such as "Yo quiero Taco Bell" and "Think Outside the Bun," Southern California-based fast food chain Taco Bell may have unknowingly created their most indelible campaign with two new summer beverages.

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a final rule containing a broad set of federal requirements designed to significantly curb access to and the appeal of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents in the United States. The new rule, Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco to Protect Children and Adolescents, restricts the sale, distribution, and promotion of these products to make them less accessible and less attractive to kids. The rule becomes effective June 22 and has the force and effect of a law.

A coalition in Detroit wants drug paraphernalia to be out of sight, but on the minds of city council. The Drug Free Communities Coalition is asking the Detroit City Council to regulate store owners who display drug paraphernalia at the checkout counter.

According to the 2008 CADCA Annual Survey of Coalitions, 67 percent of coalitions report implementing compliance checks for alcohol and/or tobacco sales to minors in the past year, and 64 percent said they helped enforce laws and policies discouraging substance abuse. However, only 17 percent of coalitions report being involved in limiting or restricting location and density of alcohol outlets.

Methamphetamine may be receiving a flurry of media attention recently, but is it really the major drug problem in your community? During a CADCA broadcast/webcast entitled "Drug Epidemics from Meth to Mothballs: How to Know What’s Really Happening in Your Community," experts will explore statistics on drug use in different parts of the country, and will offer tools that can help coalitions understand the patterns of drug use in their communities. The broadcast/webcast will be aired May 17 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.

CADCA´s National Coalition Institute launched a new publication series, Beyond the Basics: Topic-Specific Publications for Coalitions, earlier this week with release of The Coalition Impact: Environmental Prevention Strategies. The new series complements the Institute´s popular Primer Series, which is based on the elements of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Strategic Prevention Framework.

CADCA’s National Coalition Institute

Defining the Seven Strategies for Community Change

Environmental prevention strategies focus on changing the physical, social and political setting in which problem behaviors occur. Research has shown that policy strategies are a very powerful tool to reduce rates of alcohol-related problems in communities and change community norms. In many cases they are much more cost effective than strategies designed primarily to educate individuals.