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| North Country Prevention Newsletter
"Working together to create healthier communities for
our children and families."
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Greetings!
Welcome to another edition of the
North Country Prevention Newsletter. This is a monthly electronic communication
to and for the North Country Prevention Coalitions including the Juvenile
Justice Project, the Littleton Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Task Force,
Coos County Coalition, North Country Prevention Network, Woodsville Area
Stakeholders and the Coos County Family Support Project, community partners,
program participants and interested stakeholders. This newsletter is a project
of North Country Health Consortium.
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Youth Leadership Project News:
Berlin SADD Group Conducts Comprehensive Alcohol Awareness Campaign
The Berlin SADD group enlisted the help of the Berlin Elementary students, local businesses and community members in order to be successful with spread the messaged of their campaign. Their awareness efforts included a prominent banner located on Glenn Avenue altering potential hosts that holding underage drinking parties is illegal; a carnation with an underage drinking prevention message handed out by elementary students at the Berlin Prom, a Project Monitor SafeHomes Pledge raffle asking individuals to pledge to not provide alcohol to minors and to educate them on the dangers of underage drinking which was accompanied by an underage drinking information and display table, and local awareness brochures and materials placed at local businesses.
The awareness campaign was a great success, echoing an important message to youth and adults in the Berlin community, reminding individiuals that "Prevention is everyone's business."
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Parents have the Greatest Influence...
Be in the Know!What's the best tool to keep kids substance-free? Parents! According to the Drug Free Action Alliance's "Know!" program, parents who express their concerns to their children and talk to them early and often about the dangers of using substances, such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, are less likely to engage in the behavior.
According to research, the five reasons youth cite
for using substances:
1.To Feel Grown Up
2. To Fit in and Belong
3. To Relax and Feel Good
4. To Take Risks and Rebel
5. To Satisfy Curiosity
The "Know!" campaign offers 5 actions steps for parents to empower parents to raise their children to be substance-free:
1. Know! how to set a positive example and get involved in their lives.
2. Know! how to get involved in their activities, know their friends, know where they're going and what they're doing.
3. Know! how to create clear, consistent expectations and enforce them.
4. Know! how to talk early and often about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
5. Know! how to discuss the consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.
After all, "The support and guidance we give to young people today will help determine the kind of adults they become tomorrow." -Know!
The Know! campaign aims to increase parental awareness that their children are at risk, reinforce parents with the knowledge that their actions make a difference, enhance and increase communication between parents and their children about substance use, and empower parents with simple, effective parenting strategies proven to prevent substance abuse.
To download a guide for parents by the Know! campaign, visit the Know! website by clicking here. For more parent information, visit the know website at HelpThemKnow.com.
For more
information, please contact Bob Thompson, Program
Director, at 837-2519 or at bthompson@nchcnh.org.
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National Tobacco Retail Violation Rate of
Sales to Minors on the Rise
Adopted From June 14th, 2010 Cesar Fax Weekly FAX
According to the data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, collected since Fiscal Year (FY) 1997 required under the Synar Amendment to conduct annual random inspections of tobacco retailers to ensure minors are not accessing tobacco through retail outlet purchases, the tobacco violation rate is nationally is on a rise.
After a steady decline from the FY 97 baseline violation rate of 40.1% nationally, the violation rate had been on a steady decline. However, from FY 06 to FY 07, the declining rate held steady around 10.5%. In FY 2008, the rate dipped below the double digits to a 9.9% violation rate. For FY 2009, the violation rate was 10.9%, showing an alarming increase.
The increasing violation rate is hypothesized to be a result of decreases in state spending on enforcement of youth tobacco access laws as well as spending on comprehensive tobacco prevention and control programming.
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FDA Control Leads to Packing Changes
on Tobacco Products
One year anniversary of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act changes the appeal of tobacco packaging.
(Adopted from the "FDA Authority Over Tobacco" article posted June 17th, 2010 by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Campaign)
In an historic victory for America's children and health,
Congress and President Obama in June 2009 gave the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing
and sale of tobacco products. This new law ended the special protection
from regulation that the tobacco industry enjoyed for decades and
represents a milestone in protecting Americans from the devastating
health consequences of tobacco use.
Already, the law has banned the sale of candy and
fruit-flavored cigarettes that entice children.
On June 22, 2010, the first anniversary of the law, several
critical provisions will take effect. These provisions:
- Crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to
kids. Specific provisions ban tobacco-brand sports and
entertainment sponsorships, require that tobacco products be placed
behind the counter in stores and strengthen enforcement and penalties to
prevent tobacco sales to kids.
- Ban deceptive cigarette labels such as "light"
and "low-tar." For decades, the tobacco industry has used these
terms to promote the falsehood that some cigarette brands are less
harmful, and to discourage smokers from quitting.
- Require larger, bolder health warnings on
smokeless tobacco products. Cigarette packs will soon be
required to have large, graphic health warnings that cover the top half
of the front and back of the pack (such as the packaging depicted above).
In addition, the companies have introduced lighter-colored
packaging for light brands and switched to terms such as "gold" and
"silver" to replace "light" and "ultra-light." The goal is to continue
to deceive smokers that some cigarettes are safer so they won't quit.
The FDA must closely monitor these attempts to evade the
law and take aggressive action to stop the tobacco industry from
continuing to mislead consumers. The agency has the authority to stop
the tobacco companies from explicitly or implicitly suggesting that a
particular cigarette brand is less harmful than others.
This law represents the strongest action the federal
government has ever taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable
cause of death in the United States.
Members of Congress and public health organizations worked
for more than a decade to grant the FDA this authority. The bill, H.R. 1256/S. 982, was sponsored by the late Senator
Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Todd
Platts (R-PA). President Obama signed the law on June 22, 2009. |
Four Loko: Is New Party Brew "Liquid Cocaine?"
Adopted CBSNews Health Article by Aina Hunter on June 17th, 2010
 Down a single Four Loko - one of several
popular energy-plus-alcohol beverages - and you're getting a ton of
caffeine plus the equivalent of almost three beers.
Some Four Loko fans say they like the "caffeinated malt beverage"
because it gives them a paradoxical alert-but-relaxed feeling. But
experts say it can be risky to combine alcohol and caffeine, whether
you're mixing Red Bull with booze or buying a ready-made two-in-one
cocktail like Four Loko or Joose.
But the party may be over for the makers of Four Loko. Attorneys
general in Connecticut, New York, California, and other states are
investigating the potential health risks of the drink, along with the
marketing practices used to sell it, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The fact that mixing alcohol with caffeine can be dangerous is not
news to medical researchers or college students.
A Wake Forest University study published last year found that
college students who combine alcohol and caffeine are more likely to
suffer alcohol-related injuries than students who drink only alcohol.
And student health services are well aware of the potential dangers.
Columbia University's student health service website, goaskalice.com says
caffeine's stimulating effect can make people less aware of the effects
of alcohol. That can cause them to take risks that that they otherwise
might not take.
In addition, both caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, so mixing them
can cause dehydration. A dehydrated body is slow to process alcohol,
and that can interfere with "coordination, balance and ability to
regulate body temperature," according to the site.
And now community organizers and politicians as well as medical
experts are speaking out about Four Loko. The Delaware County Daily Times last week reported that
Rev. William Rocky Brown III, a candidate for the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives, said that the new drink "is having our young people
black out." Nafis Nichols of Philadelphia's Chester Youth Collaborative
called it "legalized liquid cocaine."
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Online Training Resources
The following websites offer professional training opportunities and archived trainings and videos online
and at your convenience:
The Underage
Drinking Enforcement Training Center was established
by the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (within
the U.S. Department of Justice) to support its
Enforcing Underage
Drinking Laws Program.
UDETC Vision
Statement:
The Vision of the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center is to
create healthier and safer environments in which States, local
communities, and Federal entities engage in environmental prevention and
enforcement practices that proactively and effectively limit youth
access to alcohol and significantly reduce harmful consequences
associated with alcohol use by underage youth.
UDETC Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center is to
build leadership capacity and increase the effectiveness of States and
local communities in their efforts to enforce underage drinking laws,
prevent underage drinking, and eliminate the devastating consequences
associated with alcohol use by underage youth. The Center achieves this
goal by providing a wide variety of science-based, practical, and
effective training and technical assistance services.
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the National Guard
Bureau (NGB) and the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training
Program (MCTFT) have co-sponsored more than 40 broadcasts on varied
topics related to substance abuse prevention, intervention and
treatment. Without the valuable support of NGB and MCTFT, coalitions
would not have access to this free, training opportunity. CADCA wishes
to thank its partners for their commitment to building safe, healthy,
drug-free communities.
The Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training (MCTFT)
program provides unique, tuition-free, courses covering all aspects of
counterdrug law enforcement and training support for community anti-drug
coalitions. The program is a federally funded partnership through the Department of Defense
between the Florida
National Guard and St. Petersburg College. The program is nationally
responsive and is located at the Southeastern Public Safety Institute (SEPSI) of
St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida. SEPSI is a
state-of-the-art facility with a wide variety of special features to
enhance the training received. In all courses, the safety of law
enforcement, military, and civilian lives is of paramount importance.
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Summer Opportunities for Youth:
North Country Health Consortium:
Calling all Youth Groups: Spend the summer with your friends!
The Coalition has $1,000
Youth Grants available for youth groups throughout the North Country to engage
in prevention activities in their communities. The summer would be a great time
to spend with your friends while combating substance abuse! We encourage all
interested groups to apply. For more information, contact Diana Gibbs at dgibbs@nchcnh.org
or (603) 837-2519 ext. 222 or visit http://www.nchc-csap.org/youthgrants.html.
Health Careers Summer Camp Opportunities Await!
The Northern New Hampshire
Area Health Education Center is pleased to announce two summer camp
opportunities, one in Berlin and one in Littleton, open to students who have
completed grades 7 and 8 by the end of the 2009-2010 school year. The two camps
are weeklong day camps. Health Career Camp is an opportunity for students to
explore firsthand various occupations in the health field through hands-on
activities and workshops with healthcare professionals. Upon attending camp,
students will be certified in CPR and First Aid. The Berlin Camp will run from
July 12-16th. The Littleton Camp will run from August 2-6th. For
more information, Contact Kelly Laflamme, Health Careers Counselor, at aallin@nchcnh.org
or call her at (603) 837-2519.
Girl Scouts:
Be Part of the Adventure of Girl Scout Summer Camp!
Girl Scout Summer Camp is
around the corner! The Programs are open to ALL girls, K through Grade 11.
Girls do not need to be current members to register. The Girl Scouts of the Green
and White Mountains operate 9 day camps and 2 resident camps across NH and VT.
The summer program options currently available are 4-day programs, 1-week
programs, and 2-week programs. For more information, visit www.girlscoutsgwm.org
and click on Summer Camp, or call (888) 474-9686. Financial Aid is available!
Boys and Girls Club of the North Country:
Boys and Girls Club of the North Country's Summer Camp
2010!
The Boys and Girls Club of
the North Country, located on Route 302 in Lisbon, NH (5 miles past the 99
Restaurant), is running a 9 week summer camp for North Country Youth ages 7-13
with full days of 10.5 hours and weekly adventure trips. The cost per week is
$75. Field trips are taken every Wednesday. Transportation is provided, but
lunch is not. The bus will leave at 9 am sharp on Wednesdays! To sign up, stop
by the Boys and Girls Club to pick up a form or you can go to: http://www.bgcnc.net/main.asp?id=61 to
download the form and print it out. For more information, contact Mike Ferrant
or Sean Rutherford at (603) 838-5954 or (603) 616-8212.
UNH Cooperative Extension:
4-H
4-H Shooting Sports Sampler
A proper introduction to
the shooting sports can set the stage for a lifetime of safe shooting
enjoyment. Youngsters age 8 to 18 who are interested in learning more about the
4-H shooting sports program are invited to a free workshop on July 20 and 22.
We'll meet from 5:00 - 7:30 pm on both days. The session on Tuesday will be held at the North Country Resource Center in Lancaster
and on Thursday we will meet at the Groveton Fish and Game Club range.
Participants will get a chance to shoot air rifle, .22 rifle, shotgun, and
archery. Of course, safety and responsibility will be the chief emphasis. Free
gun safety kits and gun locks will be provided to all participants. Youth are
encouraged to bring an adult and the grownups are welcome to participate too!
Workshop size is limited and registrations will be on a first-come basis.
Pre-registration is required so call the Extension 4-H Office today (788-4961)
to sign up or to learn more. The deadline for enrolling is July 16.
The 4-H shooting sports
project is a program of the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.
Our certified instructors have received extensive training and possess a wealth
of experience in teaching the shooting sports to youth. The program is designed
to teach safe and responsible use of firearms and archery equipment including sound
decision making, self-discipline and concentration.
Ride the bus to
4-H Day at NH Fisher Cats
Sunday, August 8
$8.00 buys your bus ride
and your ticket to the game! It was so much fun last year that we're going to
do it again! Sunday August 8 is NH 4-H Day at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats
ball park in Manchester! Game time is 1:05 p.m. The locals will square off
against the Bowie Baysox (MD). They are the AA affiliate of the Baltimore
Orioles. Coös County 4-H will be hiring a bus and traveling to the game in
style (assuming we can get enough people together). It promises to be great
fun! NH 4-H'ers will even throw out the first pitch! The NH Fisher Cats team is a professional minor league
baseball team. They have a beautiful ballpark on the banks of the Merrimack
River.
Everyone's invited - 4-H
members, 4-H families, friends and neighbors. Tickets are only $8.00 (children
under 3 are free) and this includes transportation! Part of the proceeds will
support the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire. We'll depart from the Coös County Extension Office
at 10:15 a.m. and return sometime around supper time. We hope that those
connected with 4-H wear green so that we
are noticeable in the stands.
To sign up, send a check
payable to "Coös 4-H" (# of tickets _____x $8.00) to the Coös
Extension 4-H Office, 629A Main St, Lancaster, NH 03584. The deadline for
signing up is Friday, July 30. Bring thewhole club, the whole family, your
team, everyone.....it'll be a blast!
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Join our efforts: Become a member of the Coalition!
2010 Meetings:
Coos County Coalition:
The Coos
County Coalition meetings continue to be held at the UNH Cooperative Extension
building at 629 Main Street in Lancaster, NH. These meetings are from
8:00-9:30am on the 3rd Thursday of each alternating month for a
breakfast meeting. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The 2010
meeting schedule is as follows:
- August
19th, 2010
- October
21st, 2010
- December
16th, 2010
Littleton ATOD Task Force: The Littleton
ATOD Task Force meets at the Littleton Police Department located at 2 Kittridge
Lane, in Littleton, NH. The Task Force meets on the 2nd Wednesday of
each alternating month from 12:00-1:30pm for a luncheon meeting. All interested
parties are welcome to attend. The 2010 meeting schedule is as follows:
- July
14th, 2010
- September
8th, 2010
- November
10th, 2010
All are welcome to attend! For more information regarding the Task
Force, please contact Bob Thompson, Facilitator, at 837-2519 or at bthompson@nchcnh.org.
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| We invite items for the newsletter
from our readers that relate to prevention, youth and parent programs,
new
developments, training and opportunities. The deadline for submissions
to this
monthly newsletter is the 26th of each month. Send items to
dgibbs@nchcnh.org. |
This newsletter is a
project of the North Country Health Consortium, a rural health network
improving the health of North Country residents through innovative
collaboration. Working together with businesses and other community
organizations, the health and human service provider members of the Consortium
are building a regional health care system to address the needs of Northern New Hampshire.
"North Country Health Consortium leads innovative
collaboration to improve the health status of the region."
This newsletter is supported by funds from
SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
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