Learn the definitions of advocacy and lobbying, along with the examples of each when it comes to working in prevention.

Review this powerpoint by Sandra Puerini Del Sesto to define advocacy and lobbying, describe what a prevention professional’s ethical obligation to advocacy is, distinguish acts of advocacy and lobbying, and list the advocacy guidelines for actions that promote wellness and prevent substance misuse and related behavioral health problems!

Environmental scanning aims to identify your community’s risk factors that can contribute to underage or excessive alcohol consumption. Conducting a scan allows you to observe and document the 4 P’s: Price, Product, Promotion, and Placement. Recording these observations and pairing that information with other assessment data, such as youth survey data, allows you to create a clear picture of alcohol in your community. From that picture, you can then identify strategies to reduce underage and excessive use of alcohol.

This study assessed support for commercial tobacco retail policies among adults. Overall, 62.3% of adults supported a policy prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes, and 57.3% supported a policy prohibiting the sale of all tobacco products. A majority of adults supported tobacco retail policies aimed at preventing initiation, promoting quitting, and reducing tobacco-related disparities. These findings can help inform federal, state, and local efforts to prohibit the sale of tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.

This toolkit was created for prevention specialists who need some tips in navigating conversations with local lawmakers in the era of legalized cannabis use. Many prevention specialists feel discomfort in outreaching to their municipalities because they do not want to unintentionally advocate or lobby, as this is prohibited. This toolkit helps prevention specialists broach those conversations and clearly outlines the differences between advocacy and education. The latter is very much allowed and encouraged! Along with the toolkit is a modifiable slide deck. This template serves to provide an introductory conversation between prevention specialists and their respective municipalities. It is a way to provide education and discussion as municipalities consider opting in to allow retail cannabis stores to operate in their area.