13th Alcohol Policy Conference Preventing Alcohol Problems Among Youth: Policy Approaches

Friday - Sunday, March 14 - 16, 2003

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

 ALCOHOL POLICY 13 CONFERENCE CALL

Thursday, August 2 at 2 PM EDT

 1.     Advisors in Attendance: Elaine Wheeler, NHTSA (for Valerie Gompf); Norman Geisbrecht, CAMH and APHA ATOD; Gayle Boyd, NIAAA; Sheila Nesbitt, Comm Prev Coalition of Hennepin Co; George Hacker, CSPI; Robert Denniston, ONDCP; Tom Greenfield, Alcohol Research Group; Randy Elder, CDC; Cheryl Vince-Whitman, EDC.

Staff: Tom Colthurst, Barbara Ryan, Joel Epstein, Cheryl Vince-Whitman,

 2.     Other Contacts: Tom reported that Melissa Davis, United Methodist Church, can’t serve as she is changing assignments…but leaving information for her colleagues; emailed to Ruth Sanchez Way, but no other direct SAMHSA contact; looking for entrée to OJJDP.

 3.   Resource acquisition: Tom reported that EDC has submitted a solicited application to RWJF – hoping to hear early September. That budget shows ways others can be involved – such as scholarships, select speaker support that may or may not include commissioned papers. Contact Tom to hammer out details.

 4.     Conference co-sponsorships. Tom described a  “two-tiered” approach for conference co-sponsorship. One level includes organizations and groups that provide “goodwill” and help with publicity, mailing lists, and so on. The other level contributes “coin of the realm” in the form of scholarships, commissioned papers, underwriting of meals, and so on (see above).

 5.     Logistics: Tom reported that space is available at the Boston Park Plaza for Jul 28-30, 2001 at a rate of $189/night and Aug 22-25 at $159/night. Tom Greenfield expressed concerns about quality of rooms at Park Plaza and suggested looking further afield. We will look into hotels in Providence and Hartford for a time window of 2.5 days, one of which must be a Sat., between mid July and week of Aug 18, 2002.

 6.     Publicity and call for abstracts: Tom proposed that we roll out with “hold these dates” publicity and call for Abstracts at the NPN Research Meeting in September, with a 90 day window for receipt of abstracts. Venues for publicity include Website links, ATODS Section Newsletter, Prevention File, and so on. Other suggestions welcome.

 7.     Website: Tom reported that the Website would be up next week. The Website will be a venue for commenting on agenda items and suggesting topics and speakers.

 8.     Advisors Meeting at APHA: As a number of members of the AP 13 advisory group will be in Atlanta for APHA, Barbara Suggested that we try to schedule a meeting. One opportunity is the ATOD Section breakfast at 7:00 am October 23 at the Marriott Marquis Number 1.

 9.     Plenary Session: Tom reported that the suggestions in RWJF application reflected a brief lit search to identify areas of specific interests of RWJF as well as the NIAAA College panels. Discussion on the focus on New England and Mid-Atlantic states let to an agreement that it was appropriate and consistent with past AP conferences to have such a focus, with SSAs in the past providing some conference support for folks in the region.

 Norm Giesbrecht emphasized the need to have a series around evidence-based strategies.  Gail Boyd pointed out that many of those involved with youths may come with an individual (curricula) perspective, suggesting the need for a session on the importance of policy and environment, especially as needed to support curricular strategies.

 Bob Denniston said that people in the field are confused when they look at the model programs being promulgated by CSAP, NIDA, etc, asking where the policy component is or is there a policy component? If not should there be one? He suggested that CSAP’s Paul Brounstein might sponsor such a paper.

 Gail Boyd also suggested Cheryl Perry, Northland 2, who thinks that program effects were due to the policy components. Cheryl Vince Whitman referenced a PIRE report on school-based prevention, including Nancy Tobler’s finding that policy was most important in school-based work.

       Norm suggested that to attract a broader audience consider having a plenary session on what is alcohol policy and what does it mean for this age group. How does policy interact with other interventions?

 Other potential speakers suggested included Alex Wagenaar (University of Minnesota), Mathea Falco (Drug Strategies). Phyllis Ellickson (RAND Corporation)

 Gail suggested a session on the relationship between pollicies and media – both in terms of generating support for policies and notifying the public about policies.

 Norm suggested a session on the relationship between adult levels of drinking and levels of youth drinking. What does the research say about those relationships? In addition, surveys find that youths get alcohol from adults.

 Joel suggested getting involvement from two additional constituencies: ABCs and the National Judicial College – judges are often interpreters if not implementers of particular policies. Other groups include the National Chiefs of Police Association as well as college and university law enforcement groups.

 Randy Elder suggested that in the area of law enforcement we get someone like Jim McKnight who is looking at the effects of enforcement on alcohol service practices.

There was general agreement to use the plenary sessions for setting the stage for the meeting in terms of evidence-based policy approaches and making the special environment sessions part of the call for abstracts.

 10. Next Conference Call: Will be set after October annual meeting of American Public Health Association in Atlanta. We hope that as many advisors and friends to AP conference series can gather at the CSAP/ATODs breakfast on Tuesday, October 23, at 7:00 a.m., in the Marriott Marquis Hotel, a special event during the APHA meeting.