Providing parents with tips on how to support healthy decision-making among teens

One of the Prevention WINS coalition's strategies to prevent youth substance abuse in NE Seattle is outreach and education among parents.  The coalition's campaign to help parents support healthy decision-making among their children includes postcards containing parenting tips.  These tips echo what parents learn through tested and effective prevention programs like Guiding Good Choices and Strengthening Families, which is offered to Eckstein Middle School families twice a year.

The first round of postcards are in the mail and will go to all families of students attending Eckstein Middle School, Nathan Hale High School and Roosevelt High School. 

The coalition's Social Marketing Workgroup, which is developing the campaign, will meet again on Tuesday, December 6 at 6:30 p.m.  Contact the Prevention WINS coordinator for more information.

November 17: annual King County legislative forum on substance abuse and mental health

Everyone is welcome to attend . . .

15th Annual King County Community Legislative Forum: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery and Preparing for Health Care Reform

Thursday, November 17, 2011
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bloedel Hall
1245 10th Avenue East, Seattle

Learn about local successes and hear from legislators about priorities and perspectives on the upcoming legislative session. 

More about the medicine return bills

From the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County, following is more detailed information about the two medicine take-back bills recently introduced in the state legislature.

SB 5234 and HB 1370 will protect our kids, our families, and our environment by creating a statewide system for secure return and environmentally sound disposal of leftover prescription and over-the-counter medicines from our homes.

· Help stop the epidemic of abuse and poisonings, and protect our water quality.

· Requires no state funds; budget-neutral to the state. Primarily financed by all drug producers selling medicines in Washington, as part of doing business. Removes financial burden from Sheriffs, police, and local governments.

· Not a government-run program. Establishes the non-profit WA Medicine Return Association that will be managed and financed by drug producers.

· Total annual costs of the program to drug producers collectively cannot exceed $2.5 million – or about 1 penny for every $16 in sales of medicines annually in Washington.

· Federal law has been changed to facilitate take-back of narcotics and controlled substances.

· Sheriffs, police, local govt’s, and pharmacies in ~12 counties are operating take-back programs but are struggling for funding.

Comment on the National Prevention Strategy Framework

The National Prevention Council has released the second iteration of the National Prevention Strategy and is inviting your feedback. This document will be an important framework to guide federal prevention efforts in 2011 and beyond; the public is invited to submit comments as an individual or on behalf or your organization by January 13.

Some of the recommendations being made address the topics of:

-- building community capacity to implement prevention programs,

-- promoting tobacco-free living,

-- reducing drug and alcohol abuse,

-- enhancing positive mental health and well-being.

In the news

State liquor laws in the news:

Gregoire "open" to the idea of privatized liquor sales (Seattle PI)

Liquor system needs reforming despite votes on initiatives (The Bellingham Herald)

Perhaps "no" really meant "no" on liquor sales (The News Tribune)

Monitoring the Future in the news:

Though I blogged about this before, here is a link to what appeared in the Seattle PI: Teen pot smoking at 30-year high. Someone who posted a comment after the PI article noted that nobody is talking about how youth alcohol and tobacco use rates have decreased. Considering I had blogged about accentuating the positive in communities right before I blogged about increasing rates of youth marijuana use, I took that comment to heart. Communities across the nation have focused quite a bit on preventing youth alcohol and tobacco use and these successes should be recognized and celebrated. Prevention does work!

National drug policy in the news:

Questions for the Drug Czar (The Nation) Here's an excerpt in which Gil Kerlikowke talks about prevention:

I do not underestimate people's frustrations or strong feelings about a lack of success in the war on drugs, whether in the US or worldwide. It's been going on forty-five years, yet people still know their child can get drugs in high school, that their neighborhood has drug dealing, or they have a friend or neighbor or co-worker impacted by drugs. Where we have so clearly failed is not helping people understand there are very cost-effective, basic ways of working through prevention, understanding treatment can be effective and it's half the cost of incarceration. We don't have to throw up our hands as a nation and say the war on drugs has failed and therefore we have to go for legalization. We should look at these other prevention and treatment issues.

Mental health in the news:

Serious mental health needs seen growing at colleges (New York Times) Alcohol and drug abuse are included in the mental health needs discussed in this article.

King County Legislative Forum December 15

King County Legislative Forum: Issues for 2011 Related to Mental Health & Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

St. Marks Cathedral, Bloedel Hall

Agenda:

1. Light refreshments followed by program to begin promptly at 7 p.m.

2. Keynote from King County Executive Dow Constantine (Invited)

3. Presentations by Consumers and Family Members

4. Legislative Priorities for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, Community Organizing, Treatment and Recovery

5. Legislative Roundtable with King County Legislators and United States Congress Representatives (Invited)

The importance of providing youth with opportunities for pro-social involvement

The prevention strategies being implemented by the Prevention WINS coalition are based on risk and protective factors identified through community data. While we work to reduce risk factors such as easy access to alcohol and marijuana, favorable attitudes towards drugs, and families not monitoring their children, we strive to increase factors that protect our children from drug and alcohol use.

According to the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington, two key protective factors are

(1) bonding to pro-social family, school and peers, and

(2) clear standards or norms for behavior.

Families, schools, community organizations, neighbors, and others can promote these protective factors by providing "opportunities for involvement in productive pro-social roles, skills to be successfully involved in these roles, and consistent systems of recognition and reinforcement for pro-social involvement. These factors protect against the development of conduct problems, school misbehavior, truancy, and drug abuse."

Be a part of creating a community that provides opportunities and teaches skills for pro-social involvement and then rewards young people for their involvement. Everyone in the community has a role to play.

In the news

Tobacco Use Levels Off as States Slash Prevention Programs

When well-funded, youth substance abuse prevention programs work. We don't need to look further than the Washington State Tobacco Prevention and Control Program which has contributed to a 50% reduction in youth smoking rates since 2000. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, public health expert fear that funding reductions will undermine the progress states have made in reducing tobacco use.

Teen brain more prone to drug, alcohol damage

"A study led by Staci Ann Gruber of Harvard Medical School found that people who began using marijuana before age 16 and who used it the most performed the worst on a test of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility means being able to change your response to something based on the context of the situation."

Free online learning opportunities

How can we keep kids drug-free? These free online learning opportunities highlight a few prevention strategies.

Raising Drug-Free Kids
December 2, 2010
On Demand
-- See why the teenage brain is not just an adult brain with fewer miles on it
-- Learn which tactics work best to keep kids away from drugs
-- Find out what has worked for other coalitions and how this may help you
-- See how you can help guide your kids to make better decisions
-- Find out what resources are out there to help coalitions reach parents

More information is available on the CADCA website.

Get in the Game! Webinar Series
Part 1: Alcohol Marketing and Youth - Why it's a problem and what you can do
December 14, 2010
10:00 a.m. - noon

Part 2: Untrain Your Brain - Tools to unravel alcohol advertising and Expectancies
December 16, 2010
10:00 a.m. - noon

More information is available on the Drug Free Action Alliance website.

Are parents responsible for underage drinking parties in their homes?

From the New York Times' "Room for Debate": Should Parents Be Jailed When Kids Drink?

As one of the people who commented at the end of the blog points out, the experts who are debating the topic don't all have the same data or research-based understanding of underage drinking and prevention. This is true not only regarding underage drinking but for other drug and alcohol prevention issues. As we, as communities, prepare to engage in debates about prevention, it is essential that we build those debates on what research has shown to be effective. We cannot assume that everyone is aware of how much prevention has evolved and how much more we know now than we did ten years ago. Constant communication and education are needed every step of the way.

Bullying and youth substance use prevention

The Sunday, June 13, 2010 edition of the Seattle Times includes an opinion piece about bullying prevention by a researcher with the Social Development Research Group. In it, two online resources are listed:

1. the Blueprints for Violence Prevention project,

2. the Communities That Care prevention system.

Why am I listing these on a blog about youth substance use prevention? Because programs listed on the Blueprints website and Communities That Care (CTC) are also used for substance abuse prevention. In fact, the CTC model is similar to the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) that most anti-drug coalitions use.

UW prevention lectures online

The University of Washington School of Social Work's 2009-2010 Endowed Professor Lecture Series includes lectures by Rico Catalano and David Hawkins, leaders in substance abuse prevention science. Both lectures may be viewed online.

Promoting Positive Adolescent and Adult Functioning through Social Development Intervention in Childhood, December 9, 2010, Dr. Catalano.

Energizing the Community to Nurture Young People, February 17, 2010, Dr. Hawkins.

Keeping Our Children Drug-Free

Parent Forum: Keeping Our Children Drug-Free

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Roosevelt High School Library

Speakers:

Lisa Sharp, Seattle Public Schools Prevention Intervention Program

Jeffrey Thaxton, Roosevelt High School Student Assistance Counselor

Parents will have a chance to connect with one another and discuss ways we can support one another as we guide our teenage children to remain drug-free.

Navigating the Teens Years at NHHS

The Nathan Hale High School PTSA is hosting a forum for parents . . .

Navigating the Teen Years
February 24, 2010
Nathan Hale High School

6:15-7:00 p.m
-- Information booths including representatives from RADD (Raiders Against Destructive Decisions); Hale counselors; Teen Health Center; and Prevention Works in Seattle.

7:00 p.m.
-- Principal Jill Hudson will present Healthy Youth Survey data
-- Jamie Weber from the SAMA Foundation will talk about substance abuse and the teen brain, prevention, and treatment
-- Marion Howard from the Hale counseling center will discuss types of assistance available at the school

In the news

From the November 20 Seattle Times:

Our team in D.C. -- Locke, Sims and Kerlikowske

"The chief later told me people should be just as concerned about middle-schoolers partying with parents' prescription drugs as they are about better-known illicit drugs."

"The better approach is prevention for people ages 12 to 21 and treatment for those who are already addicted."

"Kerlikowske's main focus is to develop the president's drug strategy, due out next year. Clearly, policy will stress prevention and treatment and focus on things like drug courts, which have proven to work."

From the December 7 New York Times:

Addiction on 2 Fronts: Work and Home about the new deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy who believes that more resources need to go towards prevention.

Hard Questions to Ask After a Cry for Help about what pediatricians and others should ask adolescents when they are at risk for suicide.

Federal support of prevention

Earlier this month, ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske addressed the International Association of Chiefs of Police. During his address, he emphasized the importance of comprehensive prevention programs. Among his remarks:

Our youth are the group most vulnerable, so our first order of business has to be doing whatever we can to prevent young people's initiation into drug use.

Our media campaign not only raises awareness of the drug problem, it helps reduce the demand for drugs. Research shows that teens exposed to the media campaign's messages, in addition to in-school prevention programs, are significantly less likely to smoke marijuana.

The importance of drug-prevention programs has long been recognized, and there is no shortage of prevention programs, on a small-scale.

A large body of research shows that if we could align and coordinate more of the individual, short-term prevention programs, we could create more powerful and effective "continuing prevention" systems . . . They should also bring to bear multiple sources of influence on adolescents, including parents, schools, police, faith communities, healthcare providers, peers, and other members of the community.

Uncoordinated prevention efforts are not the fault of those who provide prevention services . . . One of my priorities will be promoting blending funding streams among Federal agencies to encourage communities to prepare for and adopt comprehensive prevention programs . . .

Scare tactics are not prevention strategies

Many studies have been done on the effectiveness of drug prevention strategies. According to these studies, the following have been shown to be largely ineffective for reducing substance abuse:

-- information dissemination approaches which teach primarily about drugs and their effects;

-- fear arousal approaches that emphasize the risks associated with drug use, such as mock car crashes;

-- moral appeal approaches which teach youth about the evils of use;

-- affective education programs which focus on building self-esteem, responsible decision-making, and interpersonal growth.

When planning for prevention programs, the following links provide guidance about what does work:

Principles of Effective Substance Abuse Prevention;

Sixteen Prevention Principles.

Early prevention programs work

Fifth grade students who took part in comprehensive, interactive school-based prevention programs starting as early as first grade were half as likely as their peers to use alcohol or other drugs, act violently, or engage in sexual activity, according to a new study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

"The fact that an intervention beginning in first grade produced a significant effect on children's behavior in the fifth grade strengthens the case for initiating prevention programs in elementary school, before most children have begun to engage in problem behaviors," says NIDA Director Nora Volkow.

Upcoming prevention conferences and trainings

Build your community's capacity to prevent underage drinking and participate in a conference or training. Here are a list of conferences happening this summer and in the fall.



Registration closed! Institute is full!

2009 Montana Summer Institute for Social Norms Practitioners

July 9-11, 2009

Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana

Conference website: http://mostofus.org/institute.php

Northwest Alcohol Conference

July 16 – 17, 2008

The Grove Hotel & Conference Center, Boise, Idaho

Conference website: http://www.northwestalcoholconference.org/

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Mid-Year Training Institute

July 27 – 30, 2009

Louisville Marriott Downtown, Louisville, Kentucky

Conference website: www.cadca.org/events/midyearinstitute/2009/

Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (UDETC) National Leadership Conference

August 12-14, 2009

Dallas, Texas

Website: www.udetc.org

Presentations from the 2008 conference are available at:http://www.udetc.org/conference2008-presentations.htm

National Prevention Network (NPN) Research Conference

September 15-18, 2009

Hyatt Regency Orange County, Anaheim, California

Conference website: http://swpc.ou.edu/npn/index.htm

Presentations from the 2008 conference are available at:http://swpc.ou.edu/npn/archives.htm

Washington State Prevention Summit

October 30-31, 2009

Yakima Convention Center, Yakima, Washington

Conference website: http://casat.unr.edu/dasa/

The website contains information and handouts from previous conferences.

Include prevention in healthcare reform legislation

As President Obama and Congress work to get healthcare reform legislation introduced and passed, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) is working to ensure that substance abuse prevention is included in the legislation. It has developed a proposal to include drug/alcohol prevention in healthcare reform.

Not only is this document useful for sharing with policy-makers, it provides good information about why what the NE Seattle coalition is doing is important. It provides data to support

-- the fact that prevention programs reduce economic and medical costs associated with substance abuse;

-- the multi-sector approach (coalitions) to prevention;

-- the need for comprehensive strategies.

If you want a synopsis of national data regarding substance abuse, prevention, and associated problems, this is a great source.