Monday, November 20, 2006

House Passes Underage-Drinking Prevention Bill

The US House passed an underage drinking bill called the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act:
The STOP Act calls for:

* a $1-million annual national media campaign on underage drinking (similar to the White House's national antidrug media campaign, primarily aimed at marijuana);

* $5 million in grants to help community coalitions address underage drinking. This program would be run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in consultation with the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

* another $5 million in grant funding to prevent alcohol abuse at institutions of higher education;

* an annual report on state underage-drinking prevention and enforcement activities. The report would judge state efforts based on such factors as whether they have adequate laws in place regarding underage alcohol use, possession, and consumption; comprehensive and well-enforced server-liability laws; compliance checks on alcohol retailers; server training; laws to deter adults from providing alcohol to minors; and if states have graduated drivers-license programs.

* establishing a federal interagency coordinating committee on underage drinking; and

* authorizing $6 million for research on underage drinking, including gathering data on the involvement of alcohol in unnatural deaths among 12- to 20-year-olds.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the set up of the site. The colors and simplicity are great. The title too, Addiction and Recovery news. People check in with blogs that have regular content. This page has not changed for weeks. There's nothing new in addiction and recovery news? I'm in recovery and could post something everyday I think? I know "time" but I blog too and can at least get something relevant on my site once a week. Tuning out.

Jason Schwartz said...

I'm not sure what you mean. I've had 416 posts since 5/31/06. Are you going to www.dawnfarm.org/blog.html? Or, are you going to the permalink for this post?