Changing attitudes and perceptions about alcohol and other drugs in communities is not easy work.
For the past five years the Partners for Prevention Coalition of Richland County has made progress on preventing young people from using illicit substances. It's a tireless effort that takes a group of people to come together and make a change.
"We know through the data that 90 percent of the people with a substance abuse problem began in their teen years," Betsy Roesler, Drug-Free Communities Project Director said. "For what they did as a teen, they end up with a lifelong struggle and we're working to make the community aware of it."
Roesler said it isn't just a matter of teens drinking alcohol, but 20 percent of teens have used marijuana in the past 30 days, 47 percent of teens have tried "vaping," 6% of teens have tried prescription drugs that were not prescribed for them.
Through a youth risk behavior survey, Partners for Prevention can pinpoint data regarding what can be done to stop youth drug and alcohol use.
"Data leads us to selecting strategies," Roesler said. "The coalition works together to try and advocate to the community and youth how the brain works and how early use of alcohol or drugs can lead to lifelong problems."
The coalition began in 2018 and in 2019 became part of the Richland Center School District, receiving a coveted $125,000 annual grant from the Drug Free Communities fund. Partners for Prevention can continue to renew its grant by showing success. The Partners have been doing that.
The National Night Out drug and alcohol free event held recently is one event that Partners for Prevention advocates. It's part of building its coalition and following the formula of successfully addressing drugs and alcohol in a community.
Partners for Prevention has participated with local law enforcement since 2020 with compliance checks to ensure retailers were not selling alcohol to minors. The first check only 43% of retailers passed. That increased annually from 57%, 87% and 100%.
"We feel like the checks have raised awareness in the community," Roesler said. "We've also increased social pressure not to sell alcohol to minors."
Roesler said Partners for Prevention gets a huge boost from the Richland Center School District, which manages its budget from the grant. Both Richland Center and Ithaca High Schools have "Youth for Change" groups that go to peers and try to do what they can to end drug and alcohol abuse. One current effort by the youth is to establish tobacco-free parks.
"We need to work on this together -- as a community," Roesler said. "We need to realize that kids drink not because they don't have enough to do or because that's the way it's always been. The problem is that we tolerate it and there are people who think it didn't hurt them, so it won't hurt another person. That's not what the data tells us."
The Partners for Prevention seek people to focus on positive things and sources of strength. The coalition of those in the community working together to prevent youth from experimenting or using drugs or alcohol is a major positive take-away.
"The grant has shown to be effective if we follow the process," Roesler said. "The coalition is one of our sources of strength. People only need to come to a meeting to participate."
An upcoming meeting of the Partners for Prevention Coalition will be held at the Richland County Health and Human Services Department at 221 West Seminary Street, Monday, Sept. 18, from 2-3 p.m. More information on the Partners for Prevention Coalition can be found at the group's Richland County website at richlandcountypfp.org.
