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In its seventh year, NCADD-New Jersey is again pleased to release its annual voter education tools inclusive of an election guide, candidate survey, as well as internet access to Decision 2007 survey results and guide. These tools represent efforts to identify key issues affecting addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery and to educate the public about where candidates seeking their vote in November stand on these issues. The Decision 2007 Candidate survey is also a great way for voters to review individual Senate and General Assembly candidate responsesas well as cumulative candidate responses to addiction issues. Not only have a great number of those running for Legislature responded, in many cases they understand the importance of the issues, from the need to take steps to combat youth use of alcohol and to improving access to addiction treatment. And, on the subject of expanding capacity for addiction treatment, 97% of the responding candidates thought more of alcohol tax should go to the Alcohol Education, Rehabilitation and Enforcement Fund (AEREF), which disburses treatment dollars to the state’s 21 counties. The Decision 2007 section represents the non-partisan efforts of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence – New Jersey (NCADD – NJ) to identify and promote the awareness of key issues surrounding addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery programs.
The Decision 2007 election guideis a voter education tool highlighting important issues that encourages voters to educate themselves about these issues and to share their views about addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery with candidates.
To date, NCADD-New Jersey’s a sampling from the cumulative tally of candidate responses has found that:
71% of the responding candidates agreed with the statement that addiction is a preventable and treatable chronic disease akin to such physical disorders such as diabetes and asthma.
In the area of underage drinking, 59% favored the enactment of a statewide keg registration law.
Be sure to get out andvote on November 6, 2007
~~Recent press releases~~July 2007:
JULY 24, 2007 CONTACT: ANGELA CONOVER, PDFNJ 201-798-7171, EXT. 102
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Release provided by: mkinelski@preventionfirst.net
Immediate License Suspensions for DUI Called Effective
Alcohol-related crashes are reduced when police immediately suspend the driving privileges of drivers charged with drunk driving, according to a new study. Scientific American reported July 24 that researcher Alexander Wagenaar and colleagues at the University of Florida College of Medicine found that "preconviction license suspension laws are clearly successful in reducing the rates of alcohol-related crashes," whereas "postconviction laws have virtually no effect." The researchers estimated that taking away the licenses of anyone who fails a field sobriety test cut drunk-driving fatalities by 5 percent and saves about 800 lives annually. The study was based on an analysis of 26 years of federal crash data from 46 states with driver's license suspension laws on the books.
Experts say that swift punishment has been shown to be more effective than delayed sanctions. Only nine states allow drivers to keep their licenses if they fail a field sobriety test: Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Tennessee. The study was published in the August 2007 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Reference:
Wagenaar, A.C., Maldonado-Molina, M.M. (2007) Effects of Drivers' License Suspension Policies on Alcohol-Related Crash Involvement: Long-Term Follow-Up in Forty-Six States. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 31(8): 1399-1406; doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00441.x.
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NCADD-NJ news:
SECOND YOUTH DRINKING PRIMER TO BE RELEASED BY NCADD-NJ FOR ALCOHOL AWARENESS MONTH
Ready for Alcohol Awareness month, NCADD-NJ has released its second primer to help 'Stop Youth Alcohol Use.' This year's primer focuses on the reason for enacting a beer keg registration ordinance. Beer kegs remain one of the most common sources of alcohol at teenage parties. In some cases, parents will decide that opening their house to a keg party is the safest way to monitor youths’ behavior. Other adults – older siblings or friends – will supply kegs for underage drinkers, believing there is no way for police to trace the keg to them. Whatever the reasoning, providing adolescents with beer barrels puts them at great risk because of the excessive drinking, including binging, that often takes place at keg parties. There is a way to help stop the free-flowing keg beer that causes so much harm to youth:
The 'Stop Youth Alcohol Use' Series has been developed in partnership with: The New Jersey Prevention Network, GCADA and the Childhood Drinking Coalition. If you would like printed copies of the primer, please contact Jackie Gonzalez at 609-689-0121 x 7015
Last year's primer examined drinking on private property and was released in conjunction with Alcohol Awareness month and national Town Hall meetings. Nearly 3,000 primers were distributed throughout the year and were popular in educating communities on the importance of enacting an ordinance to prohibit youth use of alcohol on private property. Since then, we've seen monthly news articles in New Jersey about drinking parties and an increase in New Jersey towns enacting the municipal ordinance
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NAMI of MONMOUTH NEWSLETTER
National Alliance on Mental Illness: click to download:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ February 11, 2007 BACKGROUND In his fiscal year 2008 budget request, President Bush recommended cutting the State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) program by $255 million despite the fact that it has historically served as the backbone of school based substance abuse prevention and intervention efforts in the United States and has had a significant impact on helping to achieve the 23% overall decline in youth drug use over the past five years. If Congress implements this draconian cut, the majority of school based prevention infrastructures currently in place will be decimated and many of the 37 million youth who are served annually by programs funded through SDFSC will no longer receive the prevention education they need. Costs associated with drug, alcohol and tobacco use add 10% - or $41 billion - to the already strained budgets of schools across the nation. $355 million for the SDFSC program is minimal when compared to these costs. We cannot afford to see the SDFSC program reduced. For FY 2008, we are asking Congress to restore $355 million to the program, which was last year’s funding level under the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution. WHAT YOU CAN DO Using CADCA’s CapWiz system, fax the members of your congressional delegation. The members of the House and Senate will be submitting their top appropriations priorities to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Appropriations Subcommittees in the next several weeks. It is imperative that you flood your members with faxes to ensure that restoring the funding for this critical program is one of their top appropriations priorities. YOUR FAX WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! The more letters the Hill receives on this issue, the more likely we are to stop this program from being eliminated. After you have faxed the members of your congressional delegation, send this alert to everyone else in your network. TIMING Fax the members of your congressional delegation immediately to ask them to make restoration of the funds for the SDFSC program one of their top priorities during the appropriations process. CADCA will continue to monitor the SDFSC program as the appropriations process moves forward and will alert you when further action must be taken. CADCA’s fax system allows you to automatically fax CADCA’s sample letter on this issue to your legislators from CADCA's website. To send faxes to your legislators, go to http://capwiz.com/cadca/home/. If you would like to personalize your letter with examples from your community, please email dkurosky@cadca.org for a MS Word version of the sample letter.FUNDING IN GRAVE DANGER FOR STATE GRANTS PORTION OF THE SAFE AND DRUG FREE SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES PROGRAM Fiscal Year 2007 President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request What to Ask For State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program $355 million $100 million $355 million
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NJ Violence and Substance Abuse Stats 2004-2005.
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NCADD-NJ LAUNCHES STREAMING VIDEO OF 2006 RECOVERY WALK CELEBRATION
Over the past five years, New Jersey’s addiction Recovery Walk has matured into an annual event that many of the state’s recovering residents greet expectantly. An afternoon when speeches, tinged with tears or lightened with humor, ultimately celebrated the many redeemed lives present, when music moved the entire crowd to sway or sing, when an assembly of people too often left on the outside had a clear sense of belonging.
http://www.ncaddnjvideo.org/video/2006WalkFinal.wmv
Whether you were part of the days festivites or not, watch the video and be inspired by the celebration.
8 in 10 New Jersey Middle School Principals Believe Their Opinions Play an Important Role in Their Students’ Not Using DrugsNEW JERSEY— New Jersey Middle School Principals believe New Jersey Middle School Students are staying away from drugs with the help of their school teachers and principals.
A survey of New Jersey Middle School Principals conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey Center for Prevention Research (PDFNJ CPR), administered by Roper Public Affairs and Media, New York City, an international leader in consumer research, found that 81% of New Jersey Middle School Principal’s believe their opinions and those of their teachers play an important role in their students’ decision not to use drugs. The survey, released July 20, 2007 was conducted from October 30th through December 18th of 2006 among 203 New Jersey Middle School Principals statewide. The survey’s margin of error is +/- 7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
The CPR found that teachers and principal’s attitudes and opinions play an important role in their students’ decision not to use drugs. “Teachers and principals are role models for children, and like their parents, they have a large impact on the attitudes of their students regarding drug and alcohol use. This survey confirms that parents, teachers and principals play an important role in prevention, which reinforces the message that PDFNJ has championed since its inception over 15 years ago,” explained Joseph Miele, chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey.
The CPR study also found that New Jersey Middle School Principals believe alcohol and marijuana to be the drugs of choice among their students. Majorities of 6 in 10 principals believe students start using alcohol and marijuana before ninth grade. Angelo Valente, Executive Director of the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey and a founding member of New Jersey’s Childhood Drinking Coaliton added, “This finding is particularly alarming because according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) use of alcohol at an early age can cause problems later in life. SAMSHA found that children who drink alcohol before age 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol problems as adults than those who first drink at age 21 or older.”
CPR survey findings indicated that New Jersey Middle School Principals believe prescription drugs to be the third most abused substance in their schools, with abuse more than twice that of Ecstasy and cocaine. “Unfortunately this study confirms that New Jersey is consistant with national trends in the rise of the use of prescription drugs and this is certainly an area that parents and educators need to continue to address.” according to Peter Silsbee,Vice President, Roper Public Affairs.
Nearly all of the principals participating in the study (92%) say that substance abuse prevention programming is a priority at their schools, and half indicate it is a high priority. These same principals indicate that they utilize the substance abuse prevention resources available in the state, including the free programs and services offered by the PDFNJ. Two-thirds of the principals also indicated that they found funding for prevention insufficient, and one-third say funding is a lot less than they would like.
Survey results also indicate that 9 in 10 (93%) principals believe that drugs are a serious problem in the state of New Jersey, more than 8 in 10 (85%) believe drugs are a serious problem in their specific county, while 2 in 10 (18%) of the responding principals reported drugs are a serious problem in their schools.
Below you will find a flyer for the January clergy training that will be conducted by Prevention First on underage drinking. The purpose of the training is to educate clergy as to the problem of underage drinking in New Jersey, and brainstorm ways they can partner with us in getting the word out to parents and youth in order to reduce the incidences of youth drinking around the county. If you know clergy or youth ministers yourselves, please give this to them and encourage their attendance. Thank you!
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Recent incidents of Teen deaths related to drinking and driving reported over the holidays.
(This is why we need to keep educating and getting the word out.....)
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