Drug Free Paulding is a community anti-drug coalition in Paulding County, Georgia. The coalition strives to prevent substance misuse by children and youth. - Drug Free Paulding is a community anti-drug coalition. The Coalition serves Paulding County, Georgia, a community of 155,825 total population. Drug Free Paulding's mission is to prevent drug abuse by Paulding County youth utilizing a coalition of strategic partners employing environmental and individual level strategies to create a community that is purposefully drug-free. Drug Free Paulding utilizes the Strategic Prevention Framework with data collected locally to analyze the substance abuse issues of youth in the county and create a Strategic and Action Plan.
The Year 1 Strategic and Action Plan includes objectives and strategies to increase capacity in the community to prevent youth substance abuse as well as reducing substance abuse by youth with regards to alcohol, marijuana and prescription (Rx) drugs used without doctor's orders. These three drugs have been prioritized through quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Specific to the reduction of alcohol use, Drug Free Paulding will increase the perception of harm of through a “Parents Who Host Lost the Most” campaign providing information to the community that youth report accessing and using alcohol at home. An evidence-based curriculum will be piloted in the 10th grade at one high school to reduce alcohol use by building skill in these teenagers who are on the precipice of driving privileges. #WINNING, a campaign designed by Paulding youth will support youth by offering drug-free after school activities that reduce the risk of alcohol use. And the coalition will collaborate with the Board of Commissioners to enact a Social Host ordinance to increase penalties for adults who provide alcohol to teens.
Marijuana prevention strategies will work toward reduction of use by increasing perception of harm. Due to the confusion over the legalization of marijuana and its safety, information will be provided through a media campaign dispelling the myths of marijuana use and a marijuana summit will instruct parents how to identify marijuana use in their homes and engage in communication with teens regarding the dangers of marijuana. A peer-to-peer social norms campaign created by our youth coalition will decrease marijuana use by increasing the perception of harm and decreasing the perception of peer approval. An evidence-based program from the Lions Club will be piloted at an area middle school to builds skills to reduce marijuana use and to decrease problem behaviors and improve academic achievement and pro-social behavior. Improving access to treatment for youth already using marijuana will be done through the recruitment of a substance abuse treatment provider to work specifically with youth who test positive for marijuana under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice. And a change to the physical design of areas where youth obtain marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia will be completed by an environmental survey of convenience stores to determine which are selling marijuana paraphernalia, recognizing those who do not with a “Family Friendly” campaign, and working with local government to create policy that removes all marijuana paraphernalia from store shelves.
The final drug prioritized by the coalition is Rx medications that are being used by teens without doctor’s orders. Reduction of use will be achieved through a change in the ease of access for Rx drugs and an increase in the perception of harm. First an “Accidental Dealer” campaign will be disseminated throughout the county to inform parents that kids are getting drugs from home. Barriers to access will be created by providing locking/timer caps to parents at community-wide events with information about securing their prescriptions. Changing of physical design will be accomplished by adding a third prescription disposal drop box in an area frequently visited by parents, and two prescription drug take back days will be widely publicized throughout the community.
