Many corporations and individuals want to do more but need guidance and suggestions on what to do. A good starting place is the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s National Clearing-house for Alcohol and Drug Infor-mation. Call 800-729-6686.

To find out more about the use of Life Skills Training or Project TNT in Florida, contact Florida's Office of Tobacco Control at (850) 488-5576 or check out the web site of the Florida Online Tobacco Education Resources HERE

"Acknowledge, respect, and celebrate the prevention/healing practices of traditional cultures. Prevention should incorporate culturally based support systems in families and com-munities as well as Eastern and Western wellness models."

"Work with others in the community to develop and promote healthy, imaginative, and fun activities that do not feature alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs—especially those that appeal to children, their parents, and their extended families."

Making Prevention Work

The following recommendations for creating successful tobacco use prevention programs come from years of field experience gathered by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (33,34,35,36). They are presented by minority group.

African Americans

• Challenge myths about African-American youth and their involvement with alcohol and other drugs. Celebrate the resilience and pride of young African Americans.
• Encourage African-American communities to fight drugs and crime and violence. Seek out and disseminate relevant, up-to-date information throughout your community. Identify local and national alcohol-and-drug-related resources and provide churches, community organizations, and families with information about how to access them.
• Create bonds with young African Americans, families, churches, schools, law enforcement, businesses, and the media. Learn to work together and share resources.
• Volunteer your time and skills to work with community organizations, youth groups, etc. Mentoring, tutoring, skill building, and other activities help to motivate youth and build drug-resistant communities.
• Provide financial backing and other important resources to support alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention events and activities. Fliers, buttons, and balloons can also help promote prevention.
• Encourage young people to participate in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention youth activities. Sponsor alcohol, tobacco, and other drug-free events for youth and provide safe environments for their activities.
• Promote prevention activities at business meetings and in your office correspondence. Many corporations and individuals want to do more but need guidance and suggestions on what to do. A good starting place is the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. Call 800-729-6686.
• Donate space in your convenience store, video game center, or clothing or music store for posters and other prevention materials.
• Share pride in the accomplishments of neighborhood children by writing to your community newsletter, city newspaper, and TV editors about their activities.
• Hold a town meeting to learn what your neighbors think and what they want to do to make a difference.
• Set up an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problem prevention information hotline.
• Be a positive role model, especially for young children. Help them find ways to resolve their problems without resorting to violence or substance abuse.

Smoking kills more people every year tha drugs, alcohol, AIDS, fire, homicide, suicide, and car accidents combined.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

• Raise awareness about problems Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders face with substance abuse and access and to health care services.
• Acknowledge the diversity—including the conflicts and the shared values and attitudes—of the many cultures included within this category.
• Talk with your community about substance abuse among Asian-American/Pacific-Islander families; hold meetings to discuss practical solutions.
• Involve community members whose voices command respect of both parents and youth—elders, teachers, doctors, merchant/business leaders, community leaders, and youth role models—in prevention efforts.
• Help recent immigrants cope with the English language and American culture. Life stresses, such as a major relocation, can be a precursor to abusing alcohol and other drugs.
• Let health, law enforcement, and court officials know your concern about substance abuse in the community. Help them understand Asian American/Pacific Islander norms and values and their diverse traditions regarding use of alcohol and other drugs. Ask how you can collaborate on prevention. Help community members, particularly youth, understand the negative consequences of drinking, smoking, and using other drugs. Help them understand the links between such abuse and threats to com-munity, family, and individual well-being, such as violence, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, school failure, and unemployment.
• Acknowledge, respect, and celebrate prevention/healing practices of traditional cultures. Prevention should incorporate culturally based support systems in families and communities as well as Eastern and Western wellness models.
• Get involved with youth in your com-munity. Encourage their interests, praise their successes, and help them take pride in their cultural heritage.
• Be a good role model. Help young people find ways to resolve problems without resorting to violence or substance abuse. Demonstrate safe and healthy problem solving and show that helping others helps you as well.
• Work with others in the community—clubs, schools, churches, neighborhood groups, and associations—to sponsor and promote safe, healthy activities that do not feature alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.
• Take an active role in Asian-American/Pacific-Islander community issues and needs. Get to know elected officials, business and education leaders, community and religious leaders, and those in the media, and demonstrate to them the special needs for prevention in the community.
• Remind community leaders of the importance of having proactive community representation at all levels of policy and decision making. Help them recruit Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders to participate in public and private efforts to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems.

American Indians/Alaska Natives

• Seek information about options for health promotion, disease prevention, and health care for Native Americans. Get a better grasp of key issues, such as improved access to and use of existing health services and research innovations in linking them to traditional methods of healing.
• Talk with your neighbors about the problems facing your community and hold regular meetings to discover workable solutions. Build upon community spirit until more people in the community are involved.
• Learn from local health and court officials about alcohol and other drug-related problems in your community. Help them to become sensitive to Native American teachings about ways to cope with these problems. Offer assistance in developing culturally sensitive prevention and treatment programs for the community.
• Set time aside to listen to what the children have to say. Ask about their friends and their friends’ families. Praise their successes and instill in them a love of family and sense of pride in their Native American heritage, which can help protect them from misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
• Develop community programs and organizations that promote healthy fun and a playful spirit to compete with the lure of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.
• Take an active role, however you can, in Native American community affairs and governance. Get to know your leaders. Ask your neighbors to get involved.
• Encourage people to tell stories about personal experiences with the consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse.
• Help build resiliency in youth—the ability to recover strength, spirits, good humor, etc., quickly—so they are more likely to resist and recover from their abuse.
• Learn about the resources available to address alcohol and other drug problems for Native Americans.
• Alert the community about the need for developing resources and services to handle life stresses. Be aware that stresses, such as loss of employment or illness, may put people at risk for increased alcohol consumption.
• Talk with members of your native community or tribe about alcohol and other drug use and the potential health, safety, and legal consequences.
• Take steps to create drug-free environ-ments and attitudes.
• Know what to do and where to go if you suspect a problem.
• Honor a positive role model. Respect the gifts of wisdom that elders can offer. Speak from your own heart to the hearts of others. Share your prevention vision.
• Help Native American youth deal with peer pressure by praising their good decisions and reinforcing their involve-ment with community and family.
• Team up with others to provide support and activities that foster resilience.
• Become a leader in your community, church, circle, family, or tribe in forming and enforcing a nonsubstance abusing atmosphere.

64,000 children in Florida begin smoking every year.

Hispanics

• Learn more about the problems Hispanics living in this country face with respect to health care, substance abuse, and access to adequate medical services. Get a grasp of the key issues: improved access to health care, improved data collection, development of a research agenda, and greater support from and representation in the science and health professions.
• Talk with people in your community about the problems facing local Hispanics and hold regular evening meetings to discuss workable solutions. Build upon this neighborhood gathering until you begin to involve more and more members of the community—local priests, school principals, chamber of commerce officials, community leaders, employers—the “chispas de accion” of any community.
• Speak to local health and court officials about the specific problems of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in your com-munity. Help them to better understand and become more sensitive to Hispanic norms and values. Find out how you might offer your assistance in the community.
• Help a youngster or a friend understand the serious consequences of distorted “machismo” attitudes and their negative effect on risk-taking behaviors such as drinking, smoking, taking drugs, and exposing themselves to HIV/AIDS.
• Be a good role model, especially for young people. Help them find ways to resolve their problems without resorting to violence or substance abuse. Remember, helping others helps you as well.
• Set time aside to listen to what is going on in your children’s lives. Ask about their friends and their friends’ families. Praise their successes and instill in them a love of family and sense of pride in their Hispanic heritage. A sense of community is an important protective factor in keeping children away from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
• Work with others in the community to develop and promote healthy, imaginative, and fun activities that do not feature alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs—especially those that appeal to children and their parents and extended families.
• Help new neighbors, perhaps recent immigrants, cope with the difficulties of the English language and the American culture. Life stresses, such as a major move, can be a precursor to abusing alcohol and other drugs.
• Take an active role in Hispanic issues and needs. Get to know your elected officials, business and education leaders, com-munity and religious leaders, and those in the media. Alert them to the importance of having proactive representation by Hispanics at all levels of government policy and decision making. Offer Hispanic representatives to be part of any alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use community outreach and education projects.

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