April, 2022
Get Involved In
Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Alcohol Awareness Month! This national public health awareness campaign, sponsored by the National Council for Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), exists to increase awareness and understanding of the causes and treatment of one of our nation’s top public health problems: alcohol use disorder (AUD). This month serves as a great time to reflect on alcohol use and engage our community to

do the same. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly 15 million people ages 12 and older struggle with Alcohol Use Disorder. Only about 7.2 percent of people ages 12 and older who have AUD receive treatment. Even with declines in teen alcohol use, the 2021 Monitoring the Future survey indicates that alcohol remains the most commonly used illicit substance among U.S. teenagers.
"Many know firsthand the toll alcohol use disorder can take. Alcohol Awareness Month empowers us to make and encourage healthy choices within our families and communities."

— Karel Homrig,
Executive Director at Prevention First
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is this Month!

Drug Take Back Day is April 30 from 10 am to 2 pm. This day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential abuse of medications. Click on the 'Learn More' button below to locate a collection site near you.
There are numerous health risks associated with binge drinking, such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more standard drinks per occasion for males and four or more drinks for females. A standard drink is 12 oz. of beer (5%), 5 oz. of wine (12%), or 1.5 oz. of distilled spirits (40%). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people younger than 21 who drink alcohol report binge drinking, often consuming large amounts. The APRC has created an infographic with the risks and how to prevent binge drinking.  Click here to access it.


Thursday, May 12, 2022 — 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM 
Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., and it is associated with other substance use. The use of multiple substances heightens the risk of overdose. This presentation will describe research on patterns of drinking and other substance use, including prescription drug misuse while drinking. It will also discuss indications of changes in alcohol use and related harms in recent years. The presentation will highlight tools and resources that can inform the implementation of effective strategies to reduce excessive drinking and other substance use in states and communities.  

About the Presenter:
Dr. Marissa Esser leads the Alcohol Program in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She oversees and leads applied alcohol epidemiology research and surveillance on excessive alcohol use and related outcomes, such as other substance use. She also manages the CDC’s Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application, a tool that estimates alcohol-attributable deaths and years of potential life lost nationally and in states. Dr. Esser oversees studies examining the effectiveness of strategies to prevent excessive drinking, as well as the development of resources to translate research on effective population-level alcohol prevention strategies into practice. She has a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MPH from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
The Alcohol Policy Resource Center can assist with analyzing your data, scanning your community, and matching policy/strategy to assessment findings. If you have any questions or need more information, please reach out to Kellie Henrichs or Jody Heavilin. 
Authentic Youth Engagement Webinars
The YPRC recently hosted two webinars on Authentic Youth Engagement featuring Nigel Wrangham. This two-part series highlighted ways in which we all can build our capacity and that of young people to address whatever issues they are focusing on in their local communities. If you missed one or both webinars, don't worry! Click the button below.
Check Out Our Driving Resource!
April is distracted driving awareness and stress awareness month, and the YPRC has developed a resource on driving while stressed. You can find it here.
Technical Assistance, commonly referred to as consulting or coaching, is a one-on-one service that provides timely, flexible, and targeted support to an organization. Using a collaborative approach, Prevention First builds a prevention professional’s capacity to address their local conditions and develop their own prevention solutions to amplify programmatic effectiveness.
Resources for Building Health Equity & Inclusion Into your Prevention Efforts

Please view the growing list of related trainings and resources available from the Great Lakes PTTC and network partners by clicking here.
Online Training Spotlight

SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week is coming up May 8-14, 2022. Prepare yourself by making sure you are up to date on the latest information about substance use disorders, effects and trends of substance use by teens, and the signs and symptoms of use by going through Prevention First’s online self-paced AOD Effects and Trends course. 
Online Self Study Courses
For more information about technical assistance or other services we offer,
Don’t forget to check out the Traffic Safety Resource Center’s new webpage to find out more about the traffic safety programs and presentations we offer.

April is Distracted Driving Month! 
Do you Drive Distracted?
Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.

Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that's like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.

Driving is an activity that requires your full attention and focus in order to keep yourself and others safe. You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your full attention. Any non-driving activity you engage in is a potential distraction and increases your risk of crashing.
  • In 2013, 3,154 people were killed and approximately 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA)
  • Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to be involved in a serious crash. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
  • In 2013, ten percent of fatal crashes, 18 percent of injury crashes, and 16 percent of all motor vehicle traffic crashes were reported as distraction-affected crashes. (NHTSA)
  • In 2013, ten percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. (NHTSA)

While those numbers may sound like just statistics, they’re anything but. They could be parents, children, neighbors and friends from right here in Illinois. There are too many sad tales of deaths and injuries that could have been prevented had drivers been paying attention to the road instead of someone or something else.

In Illinois, it is illegal to use a cell phone in any way while driving.

No one is immune from the dangers of distracted driving. So please remember: One text or call could wreck it all.

For more information about distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov, or you can contact Kathy Murphy at kathy.murphy@prevention.org.  

The Traffic Safety Resource Center is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. 
Is there a specific topic about cannabis you would like to see the Cannabis Policy Resource Center provide? Are you interested in engaging with CPRC efforts? Please click here to take our 5-minute current stakeholder survey!

This survey is designed so that we can get to know how we can provide stakeholders with the best resources and engagement to serve Illinois communities.
Prevention First is hiring for a Training and Technical Assitance Specialist and Instructional Design Specialist! Click here to learn more about these employment opportunities. Check our website often as we grow our dynamic team!
DON'T MISS IT!
RX Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit
April 2022

Join hundreds of law enforcement professionals, clinicians, government officials, family members, and advocates for the largest, most influential annual conference addressing the opioid and addiction crisis. The event is taking place this month in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 18-21.
STUDY SUGGESTS POSSIBLE DIETARY TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS
A diet in fat and low carbohydrates and protein, known as the ketogenic diet, may help reduce the severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in people being treated for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This is according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institue on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse (NIDA). Read more here.
There's a Resource for That!

We have created and gathered helpful resources to help you deliver strategic and intentional prevention efforts. Visit our Substance Use Prevention Resource Center to find a collection of resource guides, video links, full toolkits and curriculums, tip sheets and more.
Professional Development at Your Pace
Archived Webinars

Don't miss out on Prevention First's collection of live webinars to watch at your own convenience:

For APRC Webinars, visit their GoTo Stage for archived webinars.

For CPRC Webinars, visit their webpage- Archived Webinars on the sidebar.

For Substance Use Prevention Webinars, visit SUPP Training Events- Archived Webinar on the sidebar.

For Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Webinars, visit their webpage.

For SUPR Treatment & Recovery Webinars, visit SUPR Training Events- Archived Webinar on the sidebar.