2008- April is Alcohol Awareness Month- Impact of Youth Alcohol Use

Youth use of alcohol in New Jersey is a pervasive and critical public health problem. The problem is epidemic by any public health standard. It begins in middle (and even elementary) schools and erupts in high school and on college campuses. No other drug threatens as many of New Jersey’s youth as alcohol. The 2005 New Jersey Student Health Survey of Middle School and High School Students found that almost half of the students drank alcohol within the past 30 days. Given their age and inexperience, many youth consume alcohol in ways that are very dangerous and result in serious medical issues or alcohol overdoses.

Each year in April, Town Hall Meetings taking place as an opportunity for community-based organizations to bring communities together to help raise awareness about the issue of underage drinking. Some upcoming meetings and events include:

4/14- Town Hall meeting Middlesex NCADD Contact: Mara@ncadd-middlesex.org 732-254-3344 North Brunswick Town Hall

4/17- Senate Legislative Oversight Committee
Issues last year with underage drinking at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ has led to a state Senate Legislative Oversight Committee hearing on April 17th at 10 a.m. at the PNC Bank Arts Center. The issue of underage drinking and tailgating before concerts will be discussed further. Meeting at 10:00 Am

4/23- Town Hall meeting, Milltown Municipal Alliance, contact bluevelvetsea@msn.com 732-565-9402 Borough Hall Court Room

Rude Awakening 2008
Programs will be running from April to JuneAssemblies will feature talks by the Middletown Police, a Jersey Shore Medical Center trauma nurse, a municipal court judge, representatives from Crossroads, township’s substance abuse program, a social worker, physical therapist, dental reconstructionist, and those who have lost loved ones in DWI collisions.
Contact Cpl. James Roese Middletown Police Department Traffic Safety Bureau 732-615-2049

NCADD-NJ Sobering Facts Campaign
Previously NCADD-NJ has released primers on youth drinking as part of its series on Stop Youth Alcohol Use. For sobering facts and more information about drinking on private property or enacting town ordinances for beer keg registration visit the NCADD-NJ ‘Sobering Facts’ website.

The online Alcohol Screening Tool is available year-round.

Recovery Voices Count

Faces and Voices of Recovery recently launched their Recovery Voices Count campaign to educate the public about the myriad of ways that they can get involved in nonpartisan civic engagement activities so that their voices can be heard in the local, state and national arenas. Recovery community organizations and recovery advocates across the country are conducting voter registration and Get-Out-the-Vote activities, sponsoring candidate forums and getting candidates for political office on record about critical policies that will make recovery a reality for even more Americans.

With that in mind, along with a number of excellent materials, Faces and Voices of Recovery is also hosting one hour phone-in Recovery Advocacy teleconferences. The topic of the first teleconference/webinar in the 2008 series supports the Recovery Voices Count campaign. In this webinar, experts in the field talk about how you can get involved in the Recovery Voices Count campaign. Pat Taylor, Executive Director of Faces and Voices of Recovery introduces the campaign, Tom Coderre, National Field Director of Faces and Voices of Recovery gives an overview of why you should get more civically engaged, Gwen Henderson, Women in New Recovery speaks about voter registration success at her organization, NCADD-NJ’s Lori McDaniel discussed building relationships and the process of educating the public, candidates and elected officials about drug and alcohol addiction issues and sound public policies, and Jeff Blodgett, Wellstone Action spoke about how to organize and mobilize a successful Get-out-the-Vote campaign.

Take a look at the informative materials
Download the Guide to Civic Engagement
Listen to the teleconference
Download the Recovery Voices Count PowerPoint presentation
Find out more about the Campaign
Go to NCADD-NJ's Election Guide