This paper was developed to be responsive to the coalition field. It provides evidence to support their use of environmental strategies to address substance abuse in their communities. Environmental strategies are used to change the context (environment) in which substance use and abuse occur.
Finding the right mix of volunteers for local prevention efforts can be tricky. No one wants to waste valuable time or resources, but we are left with a series of questions as we look to involve the next generation of leaders, including young adults (ages 18-25) throughout the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) process. What’s their incentive? Who are their connections? Where is their help most needed? How do we bring them into the fold? During this session we will go beyond wishing, hoping, and dreaming that our strategies are sticky enough to move Gen Z (and others) to join local prevention efforts.
I’m Still a Person: The Stigma of Substance Use & the Power of Respect by Dr. Audrey Begun (MSW, PH.D.), is an interactive workbook created to help give people the knowledge required to address substance use-related stigma within themselves, their families, and their communities. This book examines the importance of the language we use when talking about substance use disorder and offers activities that will help spark changes in the way people think about the disease. It will also inspire us to be agents of change in environments where individuals and families may experience stigma.
Listen in to discover what MiPHY is, the resources available, what data the survey is collecting and how the data is being utilized. Further understand how Organizations and School Districts are involved when taking the survey.
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education released Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline. This resource for schools helps to create positive, safe, and supportive environments that can prevent and change inappropriate behaviors. This guidance also recommends using suspension only as a last resort for serious violations. In fact, school suspension can have long-term impacts. Students who are suspended miss time in the classroom and are at risk for not graduating on time, repeat a grade, drop out, or become involved with the criminal justice system.6 Suspensions also affect a greater proportion of students of color, students receiving special education services, students from low-income families, LGBTQ+ students, and male students. Most young people who vape want to quit. Suspending students who violate a school’s tobacco-free policy is unlikely to help them quit tobacco use, and could alter their academic and future goals. Because young people have been unfairly targeted with marketing tactics, the science of addiction, and long-term consequences of suspension, schools should provide a supportive environment and encouragement to quit using tobacco products, not suspension.
Most people start using tobacco in their pre-teen and teen years, a time during which a youth’s brain is still growing, making it easier to get addicted to the nicotine in tobacco. That’s why it’s important to educate youth about the dangers of tobacco and the fact that they are targeted by the tobacco companies and should say “no” to starting.
Increasing the price of tobacco products and presenting messages that counter the tobacco industry’s marketing are among the ways in which we can help youth never start using tobacco.
Policies that make “tobacco-free” the norm and that protect youth from getting and using these deadly products are also important. 24/7 tobacco-free school policy, prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, and having tobacco-free outdoor parks and beaches are all examples of policies that may help prevent kids from using tobacco.
School policies regulating the use and possession of commercial tobacco products, including electronic delivery devices (e.g., e-cigarettes, vaping devices, JUUL, Suorin), often contain punitive measures for student violations. This publication provides sample language and ideas for evidence-based solutions and information as to why these alternative measures may be more effective than suspension and expulsion at addressing student tobacco use and nicotine addiction as part of a school’s Commercial Tobacco-Free Policy.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is the name given to a group of battery-operated tobacco products that allow users to inhale aerosolized liquid (e-juice) containing nicotine and other substances.
The terms “e-cigarettes” and “e-cigs” are often used for electronic cigarettes, as well as for e-pens, e-pipes, e-hookah, and e-cigars. These products are also sometimes called “JUULs” (after a branded e-cigarette of the same name), “vapes,” and “vape pens.”
Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are made up of a battery-operated heating part — a cartridge (unit) that typically holds nicotine and other chemicals that change into a chemical-filled aerosol when heated.
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.
An effective logic model will act as a roadmap that tells your prevention workgroup where it is starting from, where it is going, how it will get to where it is going, and if it is going in the right direction. You will need to answer the following 14 questions to create an effective logic model. Once you have answered these questions, you will have the information necessary to create your logic model.
This template will help track continuing education and supervision hours for those on a development plan or working toward their Certified Prevention Specialist or Certified Prevention Consultant certification.
Learn more about the history and effects of each of the drugs below with these neat, printable fact sheets (all PDFs) that can serve as handy resources that are easy to distribute.