Substance Abuse Reduction Alliance (SARA), a drug free community coalition focused on reducing substance use among youth. After careful consideration of data on youth substance use. - On Valentine’s Day 2018, Broward County experienced its most deadly school shooting in history at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, leaving 14 students and 3 teachers dead. In the wake of this tragic event, a local non-profit working in several county schools saw evidence that substance use was a concern that needed to be addressed. The Substance Abuse Reduction Alliance (SARA) coalition was founded in 2020 with a mission to educate and empower our community to reduce substance use, particularly among youth. We focus on high-need middle and high schools in the City of Miramar, located in Broward, County, Florida. Through the Drug-Free Communities grant, SARA will use a collaborative approach to address factors in our community that increase the risk of substance use and promote factors that minimize the risk of it. Our goals are to reduce alcohol and marijuana use and increase perception of harm from prescription drugs among Broward County youth. The top contributing factors for substance use among Broward County youth are social/emotional health (including Adverse Childhood Experiences - ACES), social norms, social and retail access, and school engagement. National, state and local data also reveal alarming rates of depression, suicidal ideation and family conflict experienced by youth nationwide. Broward County and Miramar youth report experiencing emotional health challenges, which contribute to youth substance use. Broward County youth overall report having suffered ACES such as emotional neglect, an emotionally or physically abusive household, substance abuse and mental illness at home. While prevalence rates for alcohol use have shown decreases nationally, early initiation of alcohol use and binge drinking among Broward youth are both above the state average. High school and middle school students in Broward County also report low perception of harm for alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug misuse. Vaporizer or e-cigarette use among Broward County youth to ingest marijuana is concerning. School data show evidence that students are carrying vaping products onto school grounds, and state-level data indicate that some are using it while on school property. Collaborating with our 12 sector partners and using the Strategic Prevention Framework, SARA will implement a comprehensive approach using strategies selected based on assessment data, research on their effectiveness, and the potential for a community-wide impact. These strategies are designed to limit social and retail access to alcohol and increase perception of risk of alcohol. To reduce marijuana use, the coalition will address perceptions of harm, social norms favorable to use, and promotion and distribution of currently legal THC products. Finally, the coalition will address the misuse of prescription drugs by employing strategies that increase perception of harm among youth and adults. These include conducting community assessments to identify social and retail access by youth to alcohol, marijuana products and prescription drugs; educating youth, parents and other community members on the risks and consequences of substance use; advocating for policy changes that impact consequences; building skill in our coalition and youth advisory council members to address substance use in the community, and hosting drug takeback collections, youth engagement events and alternative activities that promote positive social norms. We will also educate schools staff, faith leaders and others on identifying and getting help for those who are experiencing mental health crises. Our long-term goals are to: decrease alcohol use among Broward County middle school and high school students by 20% from 2022 baseline, as measured by youth reporting alcohol use in the last 30 days on the FYSAS. decrease marijuana use among Broward County middle and high school students by 20% from 2022 baseline, as measured by youth reporting marijuana use in the last 30 days on the FYSAS.
