April is Alcohol Awareness Month

While communities are faced with a number of substance abuse issues, underage drinking continues to be among the most pervasive ones, with nearly 11 million underage drinkers today. That´s why April is designated as Alcohol Awareness Month, an annual public awareness campaign that encourages local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 10.7 million persons aged 12 to 20 (27.9 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Approximately 7.2 million or 18.6 percent were considered binge drinkers, and 2.3 million or 6 percent were heavy drinkers.

There are a number of free resources available to help coalitions engage the community in underage drinking prevention. Here are a few:

National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information: ncadi.samhsa.gov/

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007: www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/calltoaction.pdf

The Surgeon General’s A Guide to Action for Communities:
www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/communityguide.pdf

CADCA’s Support 21 Toolkit: www.cadca.org/CoalitionResources/publicpolicy/support21.asp

Alcohol Policy Information System: www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: www.niaaa.nih.gov

STOP Underage Drinking: www.stopalcoholabuse.gov

Preventing Underage Drinking – Using Getting To Outcomes™ with the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework to Achieve Results:
www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR403/

CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov, which offers important information and resources on alcoholism and substance abuse for college students, parents of college students, high school parents and students.

In addition, there are several publications available in CADCA’s Online Store, including Practical Theorist 6: Using Science to Combat Underage Drinking, developed in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.