Agenda - 01-23-2014 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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COMMISSION COMMITS TO THE CREATION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA INITIATIVE TO REDUCE UNDERAGE DRINKING When Governor Pat McCrory appointed Chairman Jim Gardner buying alcohol for tailgating parties and adults serving and Commissioners Joel Keith and Kevin Green to lead the alcohol to underage individuals in their homes); North Carolina ABC Commission in February 2013, he directed 2. Model the underage drinking initiative after other successful them to look into the problem of underage drinking in North campaigns, including realistic commercials and campaigns Carolina, especially binge drinking by university students. used for seatbelt and smoking initiatives; Chairman Gardner and the staff at the Commission 3. Develop a statewide media campaign to target parents and have responded. adults, encouraging them to reject underage drinking in all of its forms and communicate with their teenagers and The North Carolina Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking, others in their community to inform them that underage under the leadership of the NC ABC Commission, is taking drinking affects shape today. brain development Representatives of industry, education, and overall health; 4. medicine, law Target a media enforcement, campaign to change courts, community A ` the image that prevention and = � 0..4* )»• underage drinking is educational coalitions, r T cool and show them the faith community, that many young and wholesale and r 4 / people do not drink; retail establishments >, 5. Communicate with that sell alcohol youth through the are among the #` technology that they stakeholders who e" use such as instant will be members of messaging,tweets a council of North and other social Carolina leaders N . ABC Commission,2013 media; shaping strategy and Commissioner Kevin M.Green, Chairman James C. Gardner,Commissioner Joel L. Keith 6. Continue to recommendations for support local Gov. McCrory. community groups Early work of the initiative has been geared toward determining that work on preventing underage drinking; the scope of the problem and the likely best steps forward. 7. Continue to conduct alcohol purchase surveys; Recent national research shows that more than a third of NC high 8. Encourage educational programs throughout our schools, school students report having at least one drink of alcohol over especially in universities, emphasizing the negative aspects of the past 30 days,and the costs of underage drinking exceed$1.5 alcohol use and the societal and legal sanctions for both billion annually in underage drinking and aiding and abetting underage drinking; North Carolina. 9. Enforce current laws. Make compliance with underage To determine what that means to the public,the Commission has drinking laws a priority. conducted six focus groups through early fall 2013—two in the As the work of the NC Initiative to Reduce Underage east,two in the west,and two in the Triangle area. Participants Drinking takes shape, the solutions being developed will have included parents,youth, high school and university staff be informed by the findings of focus groups and other members, prevention and treatment specialists,law enforcement research. Partnerships with key stakeholders will help make officers and industry representatives. The responses generated in a measurable impact. The goal is to create a sustained, these focus groups include the following recommendations: statewide commitment to reduce the consumption of alcohol 1. Confront the culture in North Carolina that accepts underage by the youth under the age of 21 in North Carolina. drinking as a normal rite of passage (as an example, parents 3