Thursday morning links

Our own Jo Morrissey was featured yesterday on Good Day Maine talking about tomorrow's Chalk it Up to Prevention (wish hard with us to keep the rain away--and check our website after 9am on 10/1 if you're uncertain if the event will be held):

And the Brunswick Times-Record featured an excellent opinion piece about the risks of alcohol use by young people--and what we can do to prevent it:

• Involve all segments of the community — youths, parents, lawmakers, law enforcement, health care, schools and the media.
• Determine specific community norms that permit or encourage teen drinking and target our efforts toward changing those norms.
• Provide facts about the potential dangers of drinking — sugar-coating the realities is not effective, any more than over-dramatizing them.
• Provide youth-driven, safe, healthy and fun alternatives to drinking alcohol.
• Present clear NO-USE messages regarding underage drinking.
• Continue talking with (not at) our youth about the pressure to drink, offer skills to resist the pressure and have an open door for dialogue when the issue arises.
• Educate adults about the warning signs of alcohol use by youth, the effects of their own attitudes about alcohol use and where to go for help if needed. 
• Support law enforcement officials in enforcing the 21-year-old drinking age, in enforcing the laws that exist to deter adults from purchasing alcohol for minors, in adopting policies for detecting and terminating underage drinking parties and in strengthening compliance check programs in retail outlets.
• Utilize existing key resources to learn what has and has not worked. The realities of underage drinking have multiple layers and need a multi-layered approach.

Looking for more news? You can find lots more links to local, national, and international news about underage drinking and its prevention and enforcement at our Delicious page.