# Presentation: 369700

## Prevention of Underage Drinking

**Prevention of Underage Drinking**

**Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse****8****th**** Annual National Technical Assistance Conference****Atlanta, Georgia****Tuesday, January 09, 2007**

**Stephen Wing**
- Associate Administrator for Alcohol Policy
**Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration**

## National Academy of Sciences/ Institute of Medicine Report (NAS/IOM)

**NAS/IOM established an Ad Hoc committee to analyze and develop a strategy designed to prevent and reduce underage alcohol drinking.  *****Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility,***** was released in the fall of 2003. (****www.nap.edu****)**
**The report recommended a strategy that would create a national commitment to underage drinking by engaging States, communities, parents, and other essential components.**
**The overarching goal of the proposed strategy is to “create and sustain a broad societal commitment to reduce underage drinking,” and to “pursue opportunities to reduce the availability of alcohol to underage drinkers, the occasions for underage drinking, and the demand for alcohol among young people.”**

## Strategy Components

- Adult-Oriented Media Campaign
- National Partnership
- Advertising Restraint
- Entertainment Responsibility
- Compliance with Access Limits

- Youth-Oriented Interventions
- Community Interventions
- Government Assistance and Coordination
- Alcohol Excise Tax
- Research and Evaluation

## The Need for Coordination

**As part of its strategy, the IOM report made a series of recommendations for increased Federal involvement, including the following:**
**	****	**** *****“******A federal interagency coordinating committee on ******	******prevention of underage drinking ... be established, ******	******chaired by the Secretary of the U. S. Department of ******	******Health and Human Services (HHS).”*****  **
**At the direction of the HHS Secretary, the SAMHSA Administrator convened the ****Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD),**** which consists of representatives from the numerous Federal agencies committed to this issue.**

## Coordinating Committee

| National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH/NIAAA) | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(DOT/NHTSA) | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DHHS/CDC) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DOJ/OJJDP) | Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP) | Administration for Children and Families
(DHHS/ACF) |
| Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools
(DoEd) | Office of the Surgeon General (DHHS/OSG) | Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (DHHS/ASPE) |
| Department of Defense 

        | Federal Trade Commission, Ex Officio
 | Alcohol and Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
 |

## Purpose of the Committee

**The Committee:**
**Serves as a mechanism for coordinating Federal efforts and as a resource for development of the plan for combating underage drinking mandated by Congress.  **
**Is supported by a group of agency representatives with expertise and responsibilities in the area of alcohol prevention that meets weekly. **

## 
A national meeting on underage drinking was held in Fall 2005.  Each State was invited to send an interagency team of State officials including representatives from the fields of prevention, health, education, highway safety, enforcement, alcohol control, as well as a representative from the Governor’s office.

Working with the Ad Council, we developed a public service announcement, targeting parents of 11- to 15-year-olds that addresses the problem of underage drinking.

We also created a searchable website to assist individuals and organizations in identifying Federal programs addressing this issue. This website also makes it easier to  locate materials and potential sources of funding.  The address for this website is StopAlcoholAbuse.gov.

**A national meeting on underage drinking was held in Fall 2005.  Each State was invited to send an interagency team of State officials including representatives from the fields of prevention, health, education, highway safety, enforcement, alcohol control, as well as a representative from the Governor’s office.**
**Working with the Ad Council, we developed a public service announcement, targeting parents of 11- to 15-year-olds that addresses the problem of underage drinking.**
**We also created a searchable website to assist individuals and organizations in identifying Federal programs addressing this issue. This website also makes it easier to  locate materials and potential sources of funding.  The address for this website is ****StopAlcoholAbuse.gov****.**

**Accomplishments**

## StopAlcoholAbuse.gov

## Report to Congress/Annual Report

**In January 2006, HHS submitted a Report to Congress and the first of a series of annual reports on underage drinking.**
**Contained in this report are:**
**measurable targets**
**a plan of action**
**an inventory of Federal programs**
**extensive data on the problem of**

**underage drinking**

## Town Hall Meetings

**In March of 2006, the ICCPUD supported Town Hall **
**Meetings across the country addressing the problem of **
**underage drinking**
**Meetings were held in over 1200 communities in all 50 States and most territories.**
**In addition to learning more about the issue, communities were encouraged to develop and implement plans to address the problem.**

## Next Steps for ICCPUD

**At the National Meeting on preventing underage drinking, the Surgeon General announced his intent to issue a Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. The Office of the Surgeon General requested input on the Call to Action and received over 500 comments, which have been reviewed and considered. The ICCPUD agencies will disseminate the Call to Action broadly, and will promote it as a basis for increased State and community action to prevent and reduce underage drinking. **
**We are working with the Ad Council to develop additional PSAs addressing underage drinking. **
**ICCPUD will continue to coordinate underage drinking activities at the Federal level.**

## A Comprehensive Approach to Preventing Underage Drinking

**The ICCPUD Plan, and all of its activities, support a comprehensive approach to preventing and reducing underage drinking.**
**This approach is designed to reduce demand for the availability and access to alcohol by those under age 21.**
**It involves an appropriate balance between traditional prevention and education activities and enforcement.**
**The presentations that follow are from my ICCPUD colleagues who will highlight the Federal programs that are key to this effort.**

## SAMHSA Programs

**SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) is an ambitious effort to decrease substance use and abuse, promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce disability, co-morbidity, and relapse related to substance abuse and use.  The SPF implements a five-step process known to promote positive youth development, reduce risk-taking behaviors, build assets and resilience, and prevent problem behaviors across the lifespan.  There have been 42 grants awarded to date with 16 of these grants awarded in 2006.**
**Support for Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free.  The Leadership is a unique organization of Governors’ Spouses who are working together to prevent alcohol use by 9- to 15-year-olds.**