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Introduction
With the cost of underage drinking at 6.5 billion dollars per year in
California alone, cities, counties and neighborhoods across the state
are confronting the problem of underage drinking and its consequences.
According to the California Safe Schools Assessment, the number of incidents
reported for alcohol and drug offenses on school campuses continues to
increase.
To address the growing problem of underage drinking, Congress established
the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program in 1998. The Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has administered
the program since its inception with an appropriation of 25 million dollars
per year. The program supports and enhances efforts by states in cooperation
with local jurisdictions to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to
and/or the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors.
In California, OJJDP funds were awarded to San Diego State University
(SDSU) through the California Office of Traffic Safety and used to support
the SDSU Foundation's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program in the
following three areas: enforcement, public education activities, and innovative
programs. The two-year EUDL project developed regional structures to support
the implementation of environmental strategies aimed at preventing underage
drinking in San Diego County. Four core strategies were utilized:
- Increased enforcement
of laws pertaining to underage drinking
- Media advocacy
- Community organizing
- Youth development
At the request of
the OJJDP, the SDSU Foundation's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program
developed five Action Kits in order to share technologies developed in
San Diego County. Each kit is intended to serve as a guide for communities
to conduct regional environmental prevention efforts that involve the
enforcement of underage drinking laws as an integral component.
Action Kit Topics Include:
- A Regional Approach
to Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws
- Environmental Prevention
in Rural Communities
- Regional Coalitions
for Responsible Beverage Service Practices
- Involving Youth
in Environmental Prevention Efforts
- Community Organizing:
A Key to Comprehensive Regional Prevention Efforts
Each kit contains
useful tools related to each topic area in the appendices as well as a
resource directory to assist readers in obtaining additional information.
Underage drinking is not a harmless rite of passage. It is illegal and
dangerous. Those responsible for enforcing underage drinking laws need
to rally community support and raise public awareness of the problem.
The action kits are designed to assist communities across the state in
their efforts to substantially reduce underage drinking through regional,
environmentally focused prevention strategies.
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