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Prevention Comes First:
Underage Drinking is Preventable

As a component of the Prevention Comes First initiative, the Governor's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (GOSAP) Collaborative has developed a statewide initiative to prevent underage drinking. Research has shown that alcohol negatively affects adolescent physical health, brain development and mental health, and produces numerous behavioral and social consequences.

According to a 2007 U.S. Surgeon General's report, "adolescents who drink by age 15 -- about half of teens -- are more likely to struggle in school, abuse alcohol later in life, smoke cigarettes and use other drugs than those who don't. Even worse, exposure to alcohol at a young age may damage the developing brain." In Virginia, there is a high prevalence of underage drinking: alcohol use within the past 30 days was reported by 46 percent of 12th graders, 35 percent of 10th graders, and 19 percent of 8th graders.

This statewide initiative serves as a model for Virginia's communities and includes:

• Developing a common grant format to solicit proposals from localities and service agencies/organizations to identify and address underage drinking in their communities;
• Increasing the awareness of negative consequences associated with underage drinking;
• Developing strategies involving multiple agencies and organizations to address the problem; and
• Leveraging resources to support the implementation of underage drinking prevention efforts.

Governor's Underage Drinking Prevention Grant Program

Secretary of Public Safety John W. Marshall announces the "Think!...Don't Drink" underage drinking initiative at the 2008 Community Builders Network Conference. Seated at left, Freddie Simons, Director of CBN; at right, Marilyn Harris, Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Director of GOSAP.

The grant program supports community efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Under this grant program, a variety of existing funding opportunities were made available for the same period of time for the purpose of supporting community efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking. To receive funding, communities:

• Aligned local resources to implement a comprehensive, multi-strategy approach to underage drinking;
• Used programs and activities that have demonstrated to be effective in a strategic manner to address locally identified needs; and
• Made extensive use of free and low-cost informational and programmatic resources that are available.

Localities receiving funding under the Governor's Underage Drinking Prevention Grant Program are:

In addition to awarding competitive grants to localities and providing implementation and evaluation guidance, Virginia-specific resources are designed to support community efforts and build community capacity to sustain ongoing efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking.

Go to the web page for the Governor's Underage Drinking Prevention Grant Program.

Public Service Announcement

"Think! ... Don't Drink's" public service announcement features Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety John W. Marshall and provides parents with tips on how to prevent or reduce underage drinking.  It will be widely distributed to radio outlets and local television stations, accessible on YouTube and provided to any organization that wishes to distribute or air it in their community. Click on the picture of Secretary Marshall to view the announcement.