Substance Use Among Youth
Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs

The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) committee observed that tobacco is the #1 cause of death and that alcohol is the #3 cause of death in the United States (see sidebar). Although the use of illicit drugs is a serious problem that plagues our community, the percentage of directly attributable deaths is under 1%.

The committee studied the results of the 1996 PRIDE survey and the Safe, Drug Free Schools and Communities Act annual audits for Mahoning County. These results provided the committee with direction about where to recruit focus groups and begin its work on an analysis of the risk factors for substance use among youths. In addition, the results of these surveys provided the baseline measurement for developing goals and objectives for the plan.

The committee's three focus groups were comprised of the following individuals:

• 13 adults who served on the Safe, and Drug Free Schools Advisory Committee for the Western Reserve School District.
• 5 young women age 14-17 who lived in a Children's Services group home.
• 36 PANDA camp participants.

Participants were asked these questions:

• Why do kids use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs?
• What are the obstacles to reducing the problem of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use among young people?
• Do you know some "success stories" about drug prevention efforts targeting young people?

Effective alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention requires education and protection of underage youth, which requires permanent change in the basic goals, content, and process of all levels of education.

The committee proposes the following objectives and strategies that reflect current research and recommendations with proven success in other communities.

Goals

• Strengthen school and community ATOD use prevention education programs.
• Eliminate advertising of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs to youth.
• Reduce youth access to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
• Improve surveillance of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs use by youth.

Objectives

• Reduce the initiation of cigarette smoking by children and youth so that no more than 15% have become regular cigarette smokers by age 18.
• Reduce the proportion of young people who have used alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs in the past year:

  Substance	2005 Targets by School Grade
  Used	4th	6th	8th
  Tobacco	1.4	6.2	33.3
  Alcohol	3.8	9.1	19.0
  Marijuana	0	1.3	6.9
  Cocaine	0	0	0.5

• Reduce the proportion of eighth graders reporting occasions of "heavy drinking" of alcoholic beverages in the past year to no more than 7%.
• Increase abstinence from tobacco use by pregnant women to at least 90%.
• Reduce to 10% the proportion of children ages 6 and younger who are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home.
• Eliminate or severely restrict all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion to which youth under age 18 are likely to be exposed.
• Restrict in 40% of Mahoning County municipalities the promotion of alcoholic beverages that is focused principally on young audiences.
• Establish tobacco-free environments and include ATOD use prevention in the curricula of all Mahoning County elementary, middle, and secondary schools, and post-secondary schools.

Strategies

• Ensure that each school district has a Safe, Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) committee with parent, teacher, and student representation that adopts a plan for ATOD use-prevention incorporating these elements:
  • School policies on ATOD use.
  • Creation of implementation teams for each school.
  • Procedures to identify and refer students at risk.
  • A research-based prevention curriculum.
  • Peer prevention activities.
  • Strategies for gaining parental and community support and involvement.
  • Require schools with SDFSCA funds to survey students in the year 2005.
• Enforce laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco products to youth under age 18, so that the buy rate in compliance checks conducted in Mahoning County is no higher than 10%.
• Enforce laws, regulations, ordinances, or policies in Mahoning County communities and school districts limiting the availability of alcohol and other drugs to underage persons.
• Promote voluntary restrictions on outdoor advertising of tobacco and alcohol near schools or at sporting events.
• Promote voluntary restrictions on in-store advertising by retail vendors near schools.
• Encourage or require vendors to provide information about the health risks of tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy to women of childbearing age through in-store advertising.
• Increase the frequency of tobacco and alcohol sales compliance checks conducted by boards of health and local police departments.
• Support initiatives by municipalities to enact ordinances banning vending machine sales of tobacco products.
• Encourage local police departments and appropriate state agencies to prosecute adults, including parents, for selling or providing tobacco or alcohol to underage persons.
• Increase parental awareness of adult liability for serving alcohol to underage persons.

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