Underage drinking continues to be a leading public health problem in the United States. Alcohol use threatens the safe and healthy development of more young people than any other substance—even more than tobacco and illicit drugs! On an average day in 2006, research shows that 7,970 teens drank alcohol for the first time, a much higher number than began smoking or trying illicit drugs. Alcohol use among children and adolescents starts early and increases rapidly with age. As part of a national effort to help communities in their efforts to stop underage drinking, a series of Town Hall Meetings (THMs) will take place across America. This nationwide effort will support efforts to meet goals from The Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking and is supported by the Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD).
SAPAC is Calhoun County, Alabama's anti-drug community coalition! A coalition can be defined as, "An organization of diverse interest groups that combine their human and material resources to effect a specific change the members are unable to bring about independently." Effective coalitions work from the premise of "United We Stand, Divided We Fall."
(Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) defines a coalition as, "A formal arrangement for collaboration between groups or sectors of a community, in which each group retains its identity but all agree to work together toward a common goal of building a safe, healthy, and drug-free community."
SAPAC is Calhoun County's formal arrangement for collaboration between groups and sectors of the Calhoun County community! We all retain our identity and we all agree to work together toward the common goal of building a safe, healthy, and drug-free Calhoun County!
SAPAC
Mission
Maximize community resources in the areas of service delivery, health education, training and program implementation to reduce substance abuse and improve health among youth and adults in an environment that fosters community collaboration, cultural competency, reduced peer pressure and positive health outcomes.
To see the components of SAPAC's Mission, click on the cube!
What was the Purpose of the Underage Drinking Prevention: Town Hall Meetings?
Town Hall Meetings are part of a national effort to increase understanding and awareness of underage drinking and its consequences, and to encourage individuals, families, and communities to address the problem. These local Underage Drinking Prevention: Town Hall Meetings will give local communities the opportunity to come together to learn more about the new research on underage drinking and its impact on both individuals and the community, and to discuss how their community can implement the recommendations in The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. These THMs are designed to alert and empower the community as well as generate interest from the media.
To Learn More About the Prevention of Underage Drinking, Go Here:
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Underage Drinking Prevention
View SAPAC's April 6, 2010
Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking
Slide Presentation
View SAPAC's Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking Prevention
Picture Gallery - April 6, 2010
SAPAC thanks our Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking Prevention Panelists:
Judge Brenda Stedham
Mayor Gene Robinson
Dr. George Crawford
Chief Layton McGrady
Kelly Price
Anna Borders
Edward Sturkie
Lisa Thomas-Glover
Charity M. Richey-Bentley
2010 SAPAC members
Between graduation parties, end-of-school celebrations, and summer gatherings, your teen’s calendar is likely to be full of festive events for the next few months. You and your teen might be planning a party of your own. You may have mulled over many of the party-planning details, but have you thought about what might happen if you allow alcohol and drugs at your event? Even if you don’t buy alcohol for your teen’s party, youth may still get it from your home or from a sibling or friend who is over the age of 21.
Some parents believe that it’s safer for their teens to drink at home than to drink anywhere else. Other adults, including some parents, mistakenly think that underage drinking is part of growing up. They may view it as a rite of passage—one that often follows a teen’s high school graduation instead of his or her 21st birthday.
Teen parties are the primary setting for underage drinking for high school and college students – and a high consumption of alcohol and binge drinking. Ranches “where no one will know,” lake houses “where no one will care” and fields “where it just doesn’t matter” are all popular locations for teenage drinking parties. However, the most common setting for drinking among high school seniors is simply someone else’s home. Parents: Know your community's laws about social hosting and potential liabilities. View SAPAC's "Say NO To Social Hosting" above.
“Kids will be kids. What’s the harm in a few wild oats?”
Plenty. Every day, studies reveal alarming evidence and long-term consequences of underage drinking. This is why it’s important to address how and where youth get alcohol and what we, as parents and concerned citizens can do to avert tragedy.
"Social Host" refers to adults who knowingly or unknowingly host underage drinking parties on property that they own, lease or otherwise control. Through social host liability laws, adults can be held responsible for these parties, regardless of who furnishes the alcohol.
