Environmental Strategies – How does the environment relate to substance abuse?

Recently, I was asked to describe our work in what was defined as an “elevator speech.”  In two minutes or less; what do we do and how do we do it.  I failed miserably.  The big green elephant in the room is what the prevention world likes to call “environmental strategies.”  What in the world does that mean?  How does going green relate to substance abuse?  The short answer is, it doesn’t!  Not only does the onset of the green revolution murky the waters for strategists with respect to vocabulary, but it also makes for very strange faces made at community town hall meetings, or as in my case, the elevator ride.

The Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) define environmental strategies as such;

Environmental strategies seek to:
(1) Limit access to substances
(2) Change the culture and contexts within which decisions about substance use are made
(3) Reduce the prevalence of negative consequences associated with substance use  (such as motor vehicle crashes, sexual assaults, etc.)

Thus the purpose of the Drug Free Communities Grant monies are to strengthen the capacity of coalitions to reduce and prevent substance abuse in the community by generating positive, lasting environmental change.

So What?  How will this affect my community?

When a local coalition talks about implementing these changes the intent is to really alter the framework in which substance abuse is looked at.  We all know that substance abuse happens for many reasons.  So the idea that substance abuse can be tackled by one program or strategy (building a rec center), is inconsistent with how real world prevention works.  Kaleen Deatherage, Vice President of Programs for Oregon Partnership gave me a great analogy, “to tackle plaque build up, or to prevent cavities, we are practicing prevention.”   Currently, we have things like week long activities in schools focused solely on engaging our students and parents around substance abuse…but then what?  If you put a concerted effort into brushing your teeth for one week and then forgo the brush for the rest of the year, do you think you will prevent cavities, or tartar build up?  NO!!!

What we’re trying to say is that prevention has to happen every day.  It could be the soccer coach who at each practice asks the kids to put their hands over their hearts and promise to not to engage in any activities that embarrass themselves, their parents or their community.  It could be a youth minister at a place of worship talking to the youth about how having self respect means not putting substances into your body that you know cause harm.  It could be parents asking every time their kid goes out; who what where and when.  All of these are prevention strategies and all people engaged in these activities are prevention specialists!  When a community rallies around a specific cause, and decides it will be on their collective agenda, it means that policies and practices can be put into place that fundamentally change that community.

For example, lets say I found out that a liquor store on the corner has alcoholic energy drinks placed right next to non-alcoholic energy drinks.  After doing a survey by youth, it was determined that often times kids will place those drinks in their parents baskets without them even knowing they have alcohol in them and will purchase them.  Asking the vendor to change the layout of the store is an environmental strategy and should be looked at for all of the vendors.  Same goes for advertising.  We have plenty of studies showing that advertising at a certain eye-level is specifically targeted at kids.  We can ask vendors to change their advertising habits.   This category falls into the first strategy; limiting access.  You could also work with local vendors on training their staff to identify fake IDs, and positively reinforce the work of those vendors by asking the community to support them financially since they care about underage drinking and are changing their stores to help the community tackle that problem.

Changing the cultural context on substance abuse could mean having open an honest discussions with community leaders about how alcohol plays a role in community events.  Is it necessary to have alcohol sponsorship at every fair?  Is it necessary to have races (bike or running) sponsored by alcohol where the winners receive; you guessed it, alcohol?  If you want to have beer gardens, how can you make it very clear to youth the boundaries of which drinking is acceptable?  How do you engage the community to talk about something that usually falls on the plates of parents or teachers who are often ill-equipped for the conversation?

The anti-tobacco advertising campaign of the past 20 years is a perfect example of changing the cultural context.  We went from having movie stars glamorizing the smoking habit, women using it to stay thin during pregnancy, etc.. to buildings with 25ft buffers where you can’t smoke, no smoking on planes, restaurants or bars (in some states) and just a generally accepted belief that smoking is bad for the people who do it and to the people around them.  It took a good 20-30  years to have this campaign actually materialize in less adults smoking and less young people becoming smokers.

The trouble with alcohol in particular is that we are not prohibitionists.  We are not asking communities to get “dry.”  We are saying that if you are not 21 you should not be drinking.  If you’re under 25 you’re brain is still developing and the consumption of alcohol or other substances can affect that development.  And we are saying that as a community you should care that youth are given the best possible information to help them make better decisions which in turn helps to create a citizenry that is healthier; physically and mentally!

Finally, instituting the first and second strategy will then hopefully affect the third.  In the long run what we really want is to have less car accidents from drunk drivers, less children born with fetal alcohol syndrome, less hospitalizations from accidents happening from substance abuse, less kids dropping out of school, less spousal or child abuse, etc.  There is a laundry list of things that are positively affected when a community engages its citizenry to make better choices for their youth.

In coming full circle, and to add a little green speak in ending this conversation; planting a seed, giving it lots of sunshine and fresh air and water, will hopefully create a plant that is healthy and thriving, very much like we hope to do with our youth.

10 Responses to “Environmental Strategies – How does the environment relate to substance abuse?”

1. Susannah Burt says:

   June 25, 2009 at 7:35 am

   This is wonderful! I am sending this link on to our Local Communities in Utah! Impressive
2. Nancy Tkachuk says:

   June 25, 2009 at 8:09 am

   Going green here in Maine too!
3. Nancy Donahue says:

   June 25, 2009 at 10:14 am

   HEY michelle-
   Excellent!Your article is the best I have read that describes environmental strategies in every day, easy to understand terms.Thank you! I will use it in training new staff.I love the name of your organization – very clever. Your website is awesome, too.”Good work!” to everyone involved in this coalition.
4. Claire Lundberg says:

   June 25, 2009 at 10:26 am

   This in an excellent article. I am thinking about how to incorporate into our website.
5. Sarah Heath says:

   June 25, 2009 at 11:57 am

   Well done! Thanks
6. Romeo A. Blackmar says:

   June 26, 2009 at 6:47 am

   Thank-you for breaking this down in terms that anyone can fully understand. As I am new to prevention your article has helped me a great deal.
7. jill swimmer says:

   June 26, 2009 at 1:15 pm

   Thanks for putting it in simple terms for all of us to read and comprehend. I will continue to work in my commmunity to carry the message.
8. vickiebadams says:

   June 30, 2009 at 8:53 am

   Passing on to Circles of San Antonio Community Coalition-Texas. Thanks
9. Betty says:

   July 15, 2009 at 3:51 pm

   You nailed it! Thanks for writing something that we can all understand.
10. laura says:

    September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    Great article, Michelle. I work in traumatic brain injury (tbi) education and consultation. There is a large population of individuals with substance abuse and tbi. It is helpful to learn more about the SA part of things. One great “environmental” strategy for SA is to do work on TBI prevention.