Alcohol Laboratories for Education, Research, and Training

Mission, Goal, and Strategy

Our Mission:

To Eliminate Brain Damage, Violence, and Academic Failure Resulting from Underage Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Through Prevention, Intervention, and Advocacy

We provide leadership, collaboration and education that will enable the community to protect their families’ health and safety. Underage use of AOD affects us all.

*NOTE:  According to a Report of the American Medical Association: Those who drink alcohol while underage can NEVER catch up with those who did NOT drink during the teen years. "Underage alcohol use is associated with brain damage and neuro-cognitive deficits [leading to] neurodegeneration (particularly in regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory)...[and to] Impaired intellectual development that… directly impairs study habits and erodes the development of transitional skills needed for progression to adulthood. www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/13555.shtml

Consequences of Underage Drinking and Other Drug Use include: Long- and Short-Term or Immediate Outcomes such as:

Long-Term

–        Heavy adult drinking*
--        Drunk Driving leading to death and disability
–        Illegal drug use
–        Crime
–        Domestic abuse
–        Rape and Other Assaults
–        Divorce
–        Poverty
–        High school and College Drop out rate
–        Increasing numbers of children in foster care
–        Increasing costs of Health Care to taxpayers
–        Over-Population of Prisons, etc.
 
*Heavy drinking for adults is defined as:  for men, more than 14 drinks per week or more than two drinks on any one day; for women, more than 7 drinks per week or more one drink on any one day; “moderate drinking” is a maximum of 2 per day for men and 1 per day for women, never drinking every day of the week. www.niaaa.nih.gov/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/Recovery.htm ; January 2005.

For teenagers:  any alcohol or other drug use at all causes brain damage and leads to a series of immediate negative consequences with both immediate and long-term implications;  those documented by ALERT Labs include:
Potentially Violent - Immediate/Sometimes Short-Term (if Intervention is provided) but Often Long-Term Consequences :
  • ·         Driving under the influence
  • ·         Riding with a driver under the influence
  • ·         Fights or arguments with Peers
  • ·         Trouble with the police
  • ·         Parent or guardian punishment for AOD use
  • ·         Experiencing unwanted sex or sexual contact
  • ·         Accidental harm or injury
  • ·         AOD-related traffic crashes

Academic - Immediate/Sometimes Short-Term (if Intervention is provided) but Often Long-Term Consequences :

  • ·         Missing school
  • ·         Failing to complete homework or study
  • ·         Receiving a poor grade on a test or project
  • ·         Receiving a disciplinary referral
  • ·         Being suspended for AOD use 
  • ·         Being removed from a team, club, or activity
  •           Decline in grade point average

  

Our Goal:

To promote health and safety in schools, communities, and other organizations by reducing AOD use and its consequences. Our number one goal is to prevent the brain damage that leads to lifelong difficulties, including addiction, by supporting the majority of teens who do not drink and intervening to help those that do.

The Environmental, Social Norms approach allows us to address whole populations. Our programs benefit all underage participants, including at-risk groups and individuals:

Our Strategy:

We deliver evidence-based "Social Norms" Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) prevention programming and brief interventions to teens and young adults, education and support for parents, schools, and community members, and research on effective prevention.

We construct Social Norms Messages displaying the results of our research and prevention programs (through Posters, Brochures, Video’s, Student Theatrical Performances etc.) and distribute them to classrooms and other key locations. The messages relieve students of "phantom peer pressure" caused by the MISperception that "everybody drinks and uses other drugs." Messages for parents in Newsletters, brochures, student theatre performances, etc. provide education as well as social norms messages, e.g., "85% of parents wait up for their teens to get home in the evening."

  In any given community, most substance use is limited to a small group. If they are underage or at high risk for addiction, it is important to identify and intervene with this group. In schools where we work, those who violate the law or school policy or who self-refer go through our STARR brief-intervention program (see STARR Program PowerPoint) under MEDIA (www.alertlabs.org/media.php), which leads them to decide to stop using (90% of those who use alcohol and marijuana; 50% of those who use cigarettes) or reduce their use (all participants) as measured six months after completing all four sessions of STARR.

ALERT also supports other environmental strategies for prevention, working in collaboration with local and national organizations to:

  1. Change policies and procedures that promote irresponsible AOD use.
  2. Reduce irresponsible advertising and availability of AOD.
  3. Enforce regulations and laws governing AOD use.
  4. Increase AOD-free social and recreational options, especially for individuals and groups who are at-risk.


Note from Dr. Harper:  The ultimate outcome of underage alcohol and other drug use is Addiction. ADDICTION IS A GENETICALLY TRANSMITTED BRAIN DISEASE characterized by compulsive using of mind-altering drugs and is usually initiated during adolescence, when the the brain is in the process of maturing.* Individuals who have inherited the predisposition for the disease will not experience actual addiction until they begin to use (usually by smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol as teenagers). Thus addiction can be prevented if those at risk abstain from any and all mind-altering drugs, including addictive prescription drugs for sleep enhancement, pain relief, anxiety or depression -- all of which are conditions that worsen with the use of alcohol. Some common drugs to avoid are Vicodin, Oxycontin, Valium, Ambien, Xanax.

Uncontrolled environmental factors may speed or delay the onset of using, and thus developing substance use disorders including addiction, e.g., the influence of relevant adults such as parents, teachers, and religious leaders as well as exposure to pervasive alcohol advertising. The degree to which adults promote a norm of abstention for young people and of moderation (or of light drinking or abstinence) for themselves and other adults has a significant impact on teenagers' decision to use or not use AOD. WE promote the use of POSITIVE INFLUENCES to achieve the ULTIMATE GOAL:  Healthy, Safe, and Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

*Maturation occurs for women at about age 21 and for men at about age 25.  Those who start smoking or drinking, or using other drugs prior to these ages place themselves at high risk for not only brain damage and common consequences, but of Substance Use Disorders (SUD's) culminating in Addiction, especially if they have a family history of AOD problems or if they have ADD/ADHD.  In fact, 50% of those who begin drinking prior to age 15 develop significant SUD's and/or addiction.  

See: Addiction: "Drugs, Brains, and Behavior - The Science of Addiction" at http://www.drugabuse.gov/scienceofaddiction/ for more information.

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