Prevention Works
Keep a kid from taking drugs and drinking alcohol, and they won’t develop habits that include risky behaviors. They won’t think they need medicine to study. They won’t invite bad luck into their lives because bad things often happen to good people. And, in certain families, they won’t trigger the addiction gene.

CV Alliance is about prevention, and I thought I’d share random items framing our work.
Healthcare:

• A recent study couldn’t identify effective messages doctors should tell their young patients about not using drugs and alcohol, but not talking about this topic could imply tacit approval.

• Currently, supply does not meet demand regarding beds in treatment facilities.

• One good thing about the American Care Act is that youth will be covered.  The tricky thing is we still don’t know how and for what services.
Shopping:
• Tilly’s Clothing, a store popular with teens that like the skater/surfer style, came out with marijuana-motif clothes. Outraged parents had them pulled.

• Urban Outfitters, another destination shop for high school students, currently sells flasks shaped like tampons. Last year they sold “prescription bottle” shot glasses until public outrage got them pulled from the shelves.

• Over the weekend, hundreds of adults were busted for buying alcohol for minors in “shoulder tap” stings. Here’s a tip for you: if a strange kid comes taps you on the shoulder and asks you to buy her/him beer, don’t do it! And when the kid asking is your own, don’t do it!

• A concerned local mom called to ask if we had information about hookah pens and other electronic cigarettes (“e-cigs”) on our website; we do. Her child’s friends have them, courtesy of their parents. While e-cigs may help adults quit smoking, early studies show that for minors, e-cigs can lead to traditional tobacco use.  Can someone tell me why a parent would encourage smoking?

Prevention:
• Paul Royer discusses, “Dealing with my child’s moods” on Tuesday, March 25 from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 pm, upstairs at the Y. They don’t need a shot or a hookah pen to level out; they need you.  And remember, we host GUSD on Thursday March 27 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in CV High’s library to discuss suicide prevention strategies.

Suzy Jacobs, Executive Director,
CV Alliance
3131 Foothill Blvd. Suite D
La Crescenta, CA 91214
(818) 646-7867  http://cv-alliance.org/