News
Unique partnership aims to reduce underage drinking in Cowlitz County
(July 27, 2009) A unique partnership in Cowlitz County is helping reduce underage drinking, increase liquor law compliance and make the community a stronger, healthier place.
It might seem like an unlikely partnership--schools, the prevention community, and purveyors of alcohol--but it’s a model that’s seeing positive results in reducing underage drinking and the greater Kelso community is reaping the benefits.
Since 2005, the STOP Coalition (Standing Together On Prevention), has been working to reduce substance abuse among youth in the Kelso community.
Faced with higher than average numbers of students reporting incidents of drinking, Huntington Middle School in Kelso School District is one of 12 recipients of the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) awarded through the Washington Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
The STOP Coalition is a product of this six-year federal grant and is working to create awareness that the Kelso community is serious about promoting healthy choices.
To achieve these goals, the coalition needed to involve more than just the school population in its decision-making circle. When STOP Coalition coordinator Camille Goldy was approached by Washington State Liquor Control Board Alcohol Awareness Program Manager Tony Masias she was thrilled to include him in the project.
Masias brought with him an idea he had seen when he was a WSLCB Liquor Enforcement officer working with Western Washington University--to take the project to the front lines where alcohol is being sold.
“When I started working on the project, I noticed that there was no one from the business side at the table,” said Masias. “I had seen how this partnership could work and knew they could be a really effective segment of this project.”
With this in mind, Tony helped set up the “Hospitality Work Group”, a subgroup of the STOP Coalition that would include alcohol distributors and key licensees—not just in Kelso but across all of Cowlitz County.
The model brings a broad assortment of partners from the Kelso community together for the purpose of reducing underage drinking and enhancing the well-being of the greater community.
“I thought, if we can all sit down at the table and find a shared mission and goals, we could really make an impact,” said Masias.
The group did just that. Representatives from the county’s two alcohol distributors—Maletis Beverage and C. Stein Distributing—along with community members, parents and other stakeholders came together to develop a common mission. Goals include reducing underage drinking, increasing parental involvement, and eliminating access to alcohol for those under the age of 21.
The partners realized the importance of contributing to a healthy community and wanted to affect community attitudes about alcohol.
One of the coalition’s key messages is to underscore the influence that parents have on underage drinking. The group created a poster conveying this message for display at establishments that sell and serve alcohol.
Distributors embraced the project and offered to take it a step further by hand delivering and hanging the posters, not just in Kelso, but at all 200 plus alcohol licensees in Cowlitz County, all free of charge.
The first round of posters, along with letters highlighting the coalition’s work, were distributed in December. A second round of1,000 posters is ready to go to the county’s licensed alcohol retailers plus other supportive businesses.
“It’s been an honor to be involved in such a tremendous project,” said Robin Hawley of Maletis Beverage. “It might seem like the alcohol industry would have a different perspective, but we want to encourage people to be responsible drinkers.”
Normally a partnership between a school district and major alcohol distributors would be unlikely to say the least, but the Washington State Liquor Control Board serves as a link between the two, helping connect the dots.
“Without this partnership, our young coalition would not be able to take on a project of this magnitude,” said Goldy.
Masias points out that the distributors and alcohol purveyors have a vested interest in seeing the projects success. “Many of these people live in the county and have children who attend school there. It makes sense that they would want to be involved,” said Masias.
"We are proud to represent our products to legal drinking age consumers,” said Dennis McAuliff, Senior Vice President and General Manager for C. Stein Distributing. “We in the alcohol beverage industry are doing everything we can to stop underage drinking and are happy to participate in the STOP Coalition to help end underage consumption."
Mark Hottowe, Director of Student Services and Human Resources for Kelso School District points out that the two distributors are competitors, yet they’ve put that aside to support the project. “They’re just like you and me and they don’t want to support underage drinking,” said Hottow. “They’ve come together in support of this issue.”
Another goal of the Hospitality Work Group was to find a way to better partner with the county’s liquor licensees for the good of the overall community. In 2008, only 62% of licensees were passing state required compliance checks for checking identification and not selling to minors. In 2009, that number has increased to 90% and Masias thinks its partly due to the STOP Coalition’s efforts to raise alcohol awareness.
In addition to distributing the posters, Stein and Maletis invited STOP Coalition members to speak to their employees about the importance of eliminating underage drinking.
“It’s not just lip service, said Masias. “Stein and Maletis have gone above and beyond for this cause.”
Masias says he’s using the Cowlitz County project as a pilot and hopes to use the same strategies at the other 11 communities in the state who have also received the SPF SIG grant.
Educational Service District 112 is the fiscal agent for the SPF SIG Grant grant. Prevention Center Director Sandy Matthewson serves on the STOP Coalition's leadership team and works with the Hospitality Workgroup. ESD 112’s Print Center printed the posters for the coalition.
For more information, visit the STOP Coalition’s web site, www.kelsostop.org.
Study links teen drug use to parental behavior
11:08 AM PDT on Thursday, August 27, 2009
By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News
Video: Study links teen drug use to parental behavior
A new survey out today shows just how important parents can be in the fight to keep teens away from drugs and alcohol. The study suggests teens are much more likely to drink, use drugs and smoke if they've seen a parent drunk.
More than a third of American teens have seen one or both parents drunk, and that makes children twice as likely to get drunk and three times more likely to smoke marijuana or cigarettes. That's the finding of a troubling new survey.
"No one has greater power to influence a teen's decision whether to smoke, drink or use drugs than that teen's mother and father," said Joseph Califano, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
The survey by Columbia University's Center on Addiction also shows that parents can help put the brakes on abuse.
"We know that a child who gets to age 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol, is virtually certain never to do so for the rest of their life," said Califano.
Responses from a thousand teens and nearly 500 parents suggest the availability of marijuana is up sharply. Two thirds of high school students say drugs are available at school, but the real threat may be at home.
"We were surprised to find how readily available prescription drugs are to American teens. One in five, which translates to almost five million 12- to 17-year-olds, can get their hands on prescription drugs," said Elizabeth Planet, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
This mom wants her kids to have a good head start.
"Once they're out the door, they are in others people's influence, so I do what I can at home, but I know they are going to be influenced by their friends, so I do what I can," said Faith Dewsnap, whose kids are 8 and 11.
The message to all parents: teach by example. The study says if parents don't think marijuana is a big deal, the teen is twice as likely to use it.