Underage drinking

The Penn State Live website this week reported on new “early intervention” research conducted by their own scholars that may help students from becoming binge drinkers.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for up to a four year total of $15.6 million to fund STOP Act grants aimed at preventing alcohol use among underage youth in communities across the nation.

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.

Based on just two questions from a newly released guide, health care professionals could spot children and teenagers at risk for alcohol-related problems. “Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner's Guide,” is now available from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

College students who post references to getting drunk, blacking out, or other aspects of dangerous drinking on social networking sites are more likely to have clinically significant alcohol problems than students who do not post such references, according to a study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

About 70 percent of U.S. high school students don't get enough sleep on school nights and this is linked to health-risk behaviors, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Violent crime could be reduced significantly if policymakers at the local level limit the number of neighborhood liquor stores and ban the sale of single-serve containers of alcoholic beverages, according to separate studies led by University of California, Riverside researchers.

While the popular tourist destination of Wildwood, N.J. is known for its beaches and fun, carnival-like atmosphere, locals say this party-like scene can create a number of alcohol-related problems. Thankfully, the Cape Assist coalition is there to help prevent and reduce these types of problems.

FY 2012 funding for the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program is in jeopardy, as both the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Subcommittee on Appropriations in the House, as well as the full House Appropriations Committee, have voted to eliminate funding for the program. The Senate CJS Subcommittee on Appropriations has not yet marked up its version of the bill, however, which means there is still time to influence their decision. That’s why CADCA issued a Legislative Alert to the field encouraging coalition leaders to contact their Senators to urge them to adequately fund the EUDL program in FY 2012. If you haven’t already, please act on this as soon as possible.

“Everyone else is doing it.” At least that is what many youth and young adults believe when they engage in risky behaviors including substance abuse practices, particularly when they live in college communities.

 

Comprehensive community interventions have shown significant reductions in alcohol problems, including driving after drinking among adolescents and adults. These community based efforts focus on environmental initiatives targeted at changing community systems (policies and practices) to better support and institutionalize underage drinking and problem consumption reduction.