Sharon Kruk, executive director of The Coalition Inc., provided the program for the Livingston Lions Club May 14.
Based out of Angelina County, The Coalition Inc. is based on a national model and was founded in 1988 the school superintendents and district attorney in Angelina County. Its goal is to eliminate the use of harmful substances by influencing public policy, laws, attitudes and behaviors to foster healthy life-long choices in East Texas.
Kruk reported that The Coalition Inc. has received a TxDOT grant that allows them to cover Polk County as well.
A result of the local efforts are the formation of drug-free council clubs on two high school campuses – Livingston High School and Corrigan-Camden High School. Kruk said they are working to get more local high schools onboard.
She said they also work with local law enforcement to do compliance checks and keep retailers on their toes.
Collaboration, communication, education, advocacy and policy are some of the methods of The Coalition.
The substances primarily targeted are the ones that high school students are most likely to use – alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.
Reviewing the risks of underage use, Kruk said that kids who start drinking before 21 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence on abuse later in life. She said that nearly nine out of 10 current smokers started smoking before the age of 18. Kruk said that young people who use addictive substances are more likely to have poor academic success, face mental health issues or suffer from depression or anxiety.
Kruk said a Texas School Survey is conducted every other year. The most current results for this region for seventh through 12th-graders reflects that 24.9% have used alcohol in the past 30 days, 9.1% have used marijuana in the past 30 days and 13.3% have used tobacco in the past 30 days.
She said the average age of first use for alcohol is 12.4, for marijuana is 13.7 and for tobacco is 12.5. Kruk said the one of the things she finds most concerning is that only 56.5% of students in grades seven through 12 believe that their parents “strongly disapprove” of underage drinking.
“We as a community need to find ways that we can address this,” she said. “We’re not getting the message out that we disapprove of this.”
What can you do? Kruk recommended being involved in local government policy, talking to other community members about what you learned, asking questions, paying attention to the Texas Legislature, talking to your kids and following @TheCoalition936 for action alerts on substance use policy and tips for talking to your kids.
