Cobb Alcohol Task Force - Mobilizing for Change                                             

JUNE 2014

Greetings to our Volunteers, Partners, and Friends! 
 
Much of the Taskforce is now enjoying a summer hiatus. CAT Coalition General Meetings will not be held during the months of June and July 2014; and most of the Committees and Strategy Teams will not hold formal meetings in June.   
 
But we're still busy with lots of activities! 
 
There are three ways we want to make sure you will be involved with us during the summer months.  

 

First, plenty of research shows that one way we can reduce underage and youth binge drinking is to reduce social hosting: the act by an adult to provide alcohol to youths or to stage a situation or an event (such as a party) where they can get it. 

 

Three local jurisdictions (Austell, Cobb County, and Kennesaw) have passed ordinances that penalize social hosting. We are working with public officials and community leaders in other Cobb communities to pass ordinances as well, especially in the cities of Acworth and Smyrna.  
 
You can help! Please take our anonymous Social Host Survey at this link. Then contact your local public officials to express your views about how they can establish policies that serve as stronger deterrents against social hosting.  

  

Second, CAT is working to expand our capacity for serving the community better. You can help! Soon you will receive a letter asking for your donation to the Taskforce. Please make an individual gift of $20 - $100. All the money received will be used to support our education, outreach, and youth peer leadership training programs. 
 
Third, the summer holidays are here, with many risks for underage drinking. You can help! Set examples of responsible behavior with alcohol-- especially with regard to driving, boating, and swimming. And do not allow youths access to beverages with any alcoholic content at your neighborhood or public events.

  

Thanks to all of our Coalition partners who will continue to work with us throughout the summer months: policy volunteers, Law Enforcement officers, and the media. We are happy to highlight our Media Partners for recognition during the month of June.

  

Please visit the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce web site, www.cobbat.org, to find out more about program and activity updates. Thank you all for your support!

 

Peter I. Armstrong, 
Executive Director        
CALENDAR SNAPSHOT

 

JUNE

*NO CAT MEETINGS SCHEDULED

9 -12, 17 - 20 - GEORGIA TEEN INSTITUTE 

 

JULY 

8 - Policy Strategy Team Meeting

9 - Development Committee Meeting

17 - Finance Committee Meeting

17 - Executive Committee Meeting

24 - CAT Board Meeting

 

AUGUST

12 - CAT Coalition General Meeting 

12 - Policy Strategy Team Meeting 

13 - Development Committee Meeting

19 - Education Strategy Team Meeting 

19 - Youth Strategy Team Meeting

20 - Governance Committee Meeting

25 - 29 GEORGIA SCHOOL OF ADDICTION STUDIES

 

* Most CAT committees and strategy teams will be on hiatus during this month.   

 

Please check the calendar page frequently at www.cobbat.org for updates about events, meeting times, and locations. 


JUNE HIGHLIGHT: 

MEDIA PARTNERS   


Too many people consider underage and youth binge drinking a rite of passage to adulthood. A significant amount of research has identified this adult belief, as well as the belief that there is nothing adults can do to change youth drinking behaviors.
 
Community efforts to reduce underage and youth binge drinking are often challenged by the misperceptions that alcohol poses minimal harm when compared to other drugs, or that it isn't actually a drug at all.    
 
Our media partners can help us to share an important message: alcohol is STILL the Number One DRUG of choice among young people. Media organizations can use their unique positions in the community to advance social and public policy goals to reduce underage and youth binge drinking. 
 
Media can also: develop PSA's on the dangers of underage and youth binge drinking to offset advertising messages that glamorize drinking; limit alcohol ads and product placements to audiences that are composed primarily of legal adults; cover stories that highlight prevention activites and not just consequences of alcohol-related incidences; and be an advocate for community change and challenge community assumptions.     
 
For more information about how Media partners can continue to be proactive, see this link at the CAT web site.  

 

THANKS TO ALL OUR OUTSTANDING MEDIA PARTNERS.  Follow the "shout outs" to Media partners on Facebook and Twitter throughout this month.

 

Taskforce Happenings 


The Current Nameplate Image Features . . .   Media! Media provides society with information and helps frame issues and challenge assumptions. Cobb Alcohol Taskforce and its Coalition will continue to work with media to help shape community alcohol norms by helping to deliver effective messaging to large audiences.

 

CAT is going to the Georgia Teen Institute - Gwinnett United in Drug Education (GUIDE), Inc. is hosting the annual Georgia Teen Institute (GTI) on the Oxford Campus of Emory University. The Taskforce is planning to send a delegation of youths and adult volunteers to either the session on June 9-12 or June 17-20. For more information about GTI and GUIDE, please go to this link.   

 

Meeting Reminders - Cobb Alcohol Taskforce (CAT) General Meetings are held on the Second Tuesday of each month from January-May and August-December. They begin at 11:30 AM. CAT Board Meetings are held on the Fourth Thursday in January, March, May, July, September, and November, and begin at 7:30 AM.  

Summer is Here-- Stay Alert! - We also encourage everyone to visit the CAT website to read about Social Hosting and the important role parents play for summer vacation and holiday activities.      

 

Volunteers Needed for Team Meetings - Please see dates/times on calendar and plan to attend one of these meetings. These team meetings are where the action is; all are welcome!    

 

In The News

Community Symposium on Addiction is held in Cobb   
 
A community symposium was held on Tuesday evening, June 3 at the Marietta Performing Arts Center. "Taking Aim at Addiction" was co-hosted by Marietta High School (MHS) and the Davis Direction Foundation, with support from numerous locally-based corporations and small businesses. The symposium was organized for "engaging the community in a critical conversation aimed at confronting the rising use of prescribed opiates and heroin in metro Atlanta."
 
Over 200 youths, adults, and community leaders representing schools, law enforcement and public safety agencies, churches, and community service organizations throughout Cobb County attended the event.
 
To see a recorded video of the symposium, please click here. To find out more about the Davis Direction Foundation, please click here. 
 
About Us
Cobb Alcohol Taskforce is an alliance of individuals and organizations which mobilizes and challenges Cobb County adults to reduce underage drinking and youth binge drinking, by advancing strategic enforcement, policy and education goals.

 

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Contact Us
Cobb Alcohol Taskforce
3162 Johnson Ferry Rd., S-260
P.O. Box 823
Marietta, Georgia 30062
www.cobbat.org