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But not in Logan County. This year, there were no DUIs reported in
Logan County on the Fourth of July. And as Michelle Bauer, co-chair
of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Task Force of the Healthy
Communities Partnership, will tell you, it's part of a growing
trend.
"One of our primary goals is to decrease DUIs in Logan County,"
Bauer said. "And part of our initiative is offering the Safe Ride
program."
The Safe Ride program sponsors free cab services on major
holidays to prevent drinking and driving.
"We try and do those on nights that are known for heavy
intoxication in bars and at homes," Bauer said. "The last two events
we did were during the (Logan County) Fair and the Fourth of July,
and there were no DUIs reported in Logan County those nights, which
was very exciting for us."
As its name indicates, though, ATOD focuses on tobacco and other
drugs in addition to alcohol.
The task force began in 1998 as part of the Healthy Communities
Partnership, a grass-roots organization aimed at making Logan County
"the healthiest community in America." It was created in response to
the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs, or IPLAN,
required every five years for certification with the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
"With the IPLANs, they're supposed to come up with the health
priorities for each county," said Kristin Lessen, director of HCP.
"And at that time, access to care was one of the priorities … which
is what brought about the ‘corn bus.' One of the other issues was
substance abuse, so the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Task Force
was formed as well."
Over time, as the "other drugs" responsible for the substance
abuse evolved, so too did the task force's initiatives. Now, Bauer
says there's a new focus on the horizon for ATOD -- over-the-counter
and prescription drug abuse.
"We see it in the media all the time," Bauer said. "It's
glamorized, you know -- Lindsay Lohan and all the rest; they're
prescribed all these different drugs, and they are going to these
parties and drinking on all of these drugs, and they're overdosing
and taking prescribed medicine that they don't even necessarily need
to have."
As the director of transition services and former director of
counseling at Lincoln College, Bauer says being on campus helps her
to understand drug abuse on the collegiate level.
"We also hear that students are going to what they call 'bowl
parties,' where they literally bring medicine from their parents'
cabinets and throw them into a bowl," she said. "You pick up two or
three and take them with a shot of vodka, and you wait and see what
happens. It's so scary."
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To combat this abuse, Bauer says the task force will take a
two-step approach -- one step to increase awareness among parents
with children who may be exposed to such activities, and another to
facilitate a "drug drop" program, where community members can
recycle unused medicines.
ATOD's presence in the community isn't solely preventive, however
-- it's also fun. Last month, the task force hosted a free community
swim party and barbecue at the Lincoln Park District pool.
"We're going to continue to do the bowling parties and swimming
parties," Bauer said. "We want to have our names out there as best
we can to provide drug-free, alcohol-free events for people in the
community at no cost."
Asked what other measures the group plans to take to publicize
its cause, Bauer said Logan County can expect a wave of awareness
once the school year rolls in.
"You'll see the health department along with us doing several
different campaigns throughout the year on smokeless tobacco,
especially during baseball season and football season, when the high
school kids are back in session," she said.
"At this point, we're open to new ideas and are willing to spend
our money in a different way so that we've got more visibility.
We're going to be in the basketball booster books, we're going to be
on the board at the high school basketball games, so we're trying to
get our message out there as visible as possible so we can reach the
greatest amount of people."
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Online:
Healthy
Communities Partnership
[By LINDSEY BOERMA]
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