Aspen-Pitkin Healthy Futures Coalition: a community-based collaborative effort to prevent and reduce youth substance use in Pitkin County, Colorado - The Aspen-Pitkin Healthy Futures Coalition will use the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant funds to address alcohol and marijuana use among youth in Pitkin County, Colorado, using a collaborative approach to address specific community factors that increase the risk of substance use and promote the factors that minimize its use. The famous ski resort of Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County has a glitzy, hedonistic image, and attracts great wealth and international attention. The Aspen-Pitkin Healthy Futures Coalition was formed to address the fact that local youth substance use rates for alcohol and marijuana are consistently higher than both national rates and statewide in Colorado. The top contributing factors for substance use among Aspen/Pitkin youth are economic stress and disparities, mental health, social/community norms and related lack of perception of harm for marijuana, and social and retail access. There is a high degree of permissiveness, in which the dangers of substance use are minimized, and young people have easy access to substances, including, particularly, alcohol and cannabis. The Health Futures Coalition’s goal has been developed since partners first came together in 2020 and is illustrated in its Mission Statement: “to bring together partners and resources to reduce substance use and build a community that fosters resilience and healthy futures for Aspen-Pitkin County youth.” The Coalition is focused on meeting the two goals of the DFC Support Program, increasing collaboration and reducing youth substance use. The Coalition has engaged all twelve sectors of the community, and has a strong plan of work and activity, based on the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to both develop and implement evidence-based strategies to improve public health and youth and adult outcomes. Essential to this work is the use of data, and the Coalition is committed to action based on authoritative evidence and performance evaluation. Key to the success of the DFC grant program will be the formation of a dynamic and effective Youth Advisory Council, to both inject the voice of young people into the conversation and solutions to our substance use and mental health issues, and also provide important empowerment, personal efficacy and mentorship opportunities that will strengthen the entire ecosystem in which local young people are growing up. An important priority for the Coalition is to provide meaningful and culturally relevant strategies to address the significant health and other disparities of the Hispanic/Latinx population. This work runs as a thread through the Coalition’s activities, and is one of the most important things that the Coalition will address. Through a combination of new opportunities through the DFC Grant, harnessed with locally-generated resources, the Aspen-Pitkin Healthy Futures Coalition will reduce alcohol and marijuana use among Aspen School District youth.
