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ODCdrugfree

Persistent substance abuse by young people often leads to academic difficulties, health-related problems (including mental health), poor peer relationships, and involvement with the juvenile justice system.

Activities

CSSA currently is working on three different grant projects. The first is Champions for Drug-Free Kentucky: Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities. The focus of this grant is "Underage Drinking." The second is a SPF-SIG Mini-grant through the Commonwealth Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention. The focus of this project is "Tobacco." The most recent, and major project, is our recently awarded "Drug-Free Communities" grant awarded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. This is a five-year renewable with the potential of rewriting at the conclusions of the first five years for an additional five years.

The plans for this grant will involve mobilizing the entire community to work on substance abuse prevention. Utilizing information from the 2006 KIP survey, the coalition through its partnerships and collaborations with key sectors of our community intends to address the following substance abuse problems:

  • an increase use and/or experimentation with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, methamphetamine, and inhalants as youth advance in grade and age.
  • a decrease in perception of risk of self-harm for infrequent and frequent use of marijuana as youth advance in grade and age.
  • a perception of declining parental disapproval for the use of alcohol and tobacco
    products as youth approach and reach 10th-12th grade.
  • a decline in personal disapproval for alcohol, tobacco and marijuana as youth approach and reach 10th-12th grade.

Some of the activities that we have already begun include working with the AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meeting ("We the People") subcommittee "A Healthy and Caring Community" where fighting substance abuse was determined to be a "number 1" health issue for our community. We are addressing the seven strategies that have been scientifically proven to change community norms as was determined by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). With the launch of this website we are providing current county-specific data on substance use and we are developing a Media/Marketing campaign which will not only enhance community awareness and education regarding substance use and available resources such as the website, but will also provide additional insight regarding areas of interest of both parents and youth in this community.