Community volunteers and a variety of professionals were on hand
to serve food and set up displays that encouraged healthy eating and
staying fit as well as providing information on the hazards of
substance abuse. Participants were encouraged to fill out surveys.
More than anything else, the event was about bringing family and
friends together for an afternoon of good, clean fun, and there was
plenty of that going on down near the alleys.
With April being Alcohol Awareness Month, the event was also to
increase the public's knowledge and understanding of alcohol
impacts.
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence, underage drinking, is a problem with devastating
consequences for individuals, families and communities.
Alcohol use by young people is
extremely dangerous — both to themselves and to society — and is
directly associated with traffic fatalities, violence, suicide,
educational failure, alcohol overdose, unsafe sex and other problem
behaviors. Annually, over 6,500 people under the age of 21 die from
alcohol-related accidents, and thousands more are injured.
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Additionally:
-
Alcohol is the No.
1 drug of choice for America's young people and is more likely
to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined.
-
Each day, 7,000
kids in the United States under the age of 16 take their first
drink.
-
Those who begin
drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop
alcoholism than those who begin at age 21.
-
More than 1,700
college students in the U.S. are killed each year — about 4.65 a
day — as a result of alcohol-related injuries.
-
25 percent of U.S.
children are exposed to alcohol-use disorders in their family.
-
Underage alcohol use costs the nation
an estimated $62 billion annually.
Reducing underage drinking is critical to securing a healthy
future for America's youth and requires a cooperative effort from
parents, schools, community organizations, business leaders,
government agencies, the entertainment industry, alcohol
manufacturers and retailers, and young people.
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"Underage drinking is a complex issue," says Greg Muth,
chairman of the NCADD board of directors, "one that can only be
solved through a sustained and cooperative effort. As a nation,
we need to wake up to the reality that for some, alcoholism and
addiction develop at a young age and that intervention,
treatment and recovery support are essential for them and their
families. We can't afford to wait any longer."
An integral part of Alcohol Awareness Month was Alcohol-Free
Weekend, April 4-6, designed to raise public awareness
about the use of alcohol and how it may be affecting individuals,
families and the community.
NCADD extended an open invitation to
all Americans, young and old, to participate in three alcohol-free
days and use this time to contact local NCADD affiliates and other
alcoholism agencies to learn more about alcoholism and its early
symptoms.
For more information about NCADD, underage drinking, NCADD
Alcohol Awareness Month and NCADD Alcohol-Free Weekend, visit the
NCADD website at www.ncadd.org.
For more information on the Healthy Communities Partnership,
visit
www.healthycommunitiespartnership.com or email
info@healthycommunitiespartnership.com.
[LDN,
National Council on
Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the
Healthy Communities Partnership]
The Healthy Communities Partnership is a community collaboration
connecting organizations, businesses, individuals and churches in
support of creating a healthy Logan County. Follow on Twitter:
@HealthyCP.
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