Mission, Goal, and Strategy

Our Mission:

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:

• teens who have not yet begun to use AOD,
• teens with ADD/ADHD, a group especially susceptable to addiction
• teens who have already experienced brain damage and other consequences by using tobacco or alcohol, marijuana, illicit drugs, over-the-counter or prescription drugs to get high,
• teens whose families have a history of AOD problems and/or Substance Use Disorders.

Our Strategy:

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.