Town Hall Meetings: A Nationwide Underage Drinking Prevention Effort

Despite recent declines in the use of tobacco and illicit drugs among underage youth, they continue using alcohol at dangerous levels, despite State laws. Evidence-based prevention strategies can stop underage alcohol use if key influences in young people's lives follow the Surgeon General's recommendations. To this end, SAMHSA has coordinated two rounds of Town Hall Meetings on the prevention of underage drinking, in the spring of 2006 and the spring of 2008. More than 1,200 Town Hall Meetings were conducted in 2006, raising community awareness to the consequences of underage alcohol use and mobilizing interested citizens to take action. Evaluation provided encouraging results. The March 2007 release of The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, and three subsequent Action Guides, for Educators, Families, and Communities presented Federal recommendations of evidence-based prevention strategies to stop underage alcohol use. This provided an impetus for SAMHSA to further expand the network of community-based organizations specifically addressing underage alcohol prevention with a second round of Town Hall Meetings in even more locations. The 2008 Town Hall Meetings also served to promote the Call to Action and local implementation of its recommendations. This visual presentation of the history and success of the SAMHSA-supported Town Hall Meetings will introduce APHA participants to the role and potential of this form of community event in attracting media attention and reaching citizens and decision makers. The poster presentation will identify Web-based resources for those interested in additional information.