On Monday, January 24 the Alliance of Coalitions for Change (AC4C), a state-wide collaboration to effect positive change in substance abuse, will be meeting with the state legislators to discuss their concerns about underage drinking in Iowa.
The SAFE Coalition will be attending this event with select students in grades 7th through 12th from Van Buren County School District and Harmony School District.
The youth will be among several community coalitions, representing a mixture of Iowa’s rural and urban populations at this event.
Multiple prevention strategies are occurring throughout the state of Iowa, resulting in significant decreases in underage drinking. But major problems still remain: Iowa still ranks in the top 10 states for underage (age 12-20) binge drinking.
The 2008 Iowa Youth Survey showed 27% of 11th graders in the state of Iowa reporting binge drinking in the past 30 days. This is down from 32% in 2005. This remains more than one out of every four 11th graders in Iowa that report engaging in binge drinking in the past month.
Past 30 day use of alcohol and binge drinking numbers are decreasing for Iowa teens, but underage binge drinking is still very high compared to other states.
The AC4C press conference will be held in the West Hall of the 1st floor rotunda 12:30 to 1:00 pm. Media, legislators and the public are encouraged to attend.
For further information, please contact the SAFE Coalition at www.vbsafecoalition.com or 319-293-6412.
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