June 4, 2009
In this issue:
New Report Shows the Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets
According to a recent report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), federal, state and local governments spend almost half a trillion dollars every year - almost 11 percent of their total budgets - as a result of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addiction. The worst part is that, for federal and state spending, about 95% of that money is spent "shoveling up" the mess created by a failure to provide enough money for prevention and treatment.
Click on the link below for national and state-level detailed spending data, along with links to the CASA report and ways to contact your elected officials.
Click here for more information.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evaluation Fellows Opportunity
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Retooling Professionals Evaluation Fellows program seeks to diversify the evaluation field by providing individuals with the necessary skills and training to become internal program evaluators.
The program's goal is to help nonprofit professionals become better internal evaluators of their programs and better consumers of information for decision-making. The program also aims to equip participants with evaluation skills that will help enhance the evaluation capacity of their organizations.
Click here for more information.
May Edition of Judicial E-News Highlights Underage Drinking, and Clackamas County
Like many other communities, underage drinking in Clackamas County had often been viewed as a "rite of passage." But no longer. The Clackamas County Juvenile Department has been dealing with first-time MIP violations through diversion or specialty court approaches. The latest edition of the Office of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Judicial E-News highlights the county's efforts.
Click here to read the article.
New Op-Ed Supports Beer Tax: "Argument Against Beer Tax Increase as Frothy as a Sloppy Pour"
New op-ed printed in The Oregonian supporting the beer tax increase: "We in the Oregon beer industry have it easy. We sell a product that, our best intentions aside, many Oregonians abuse at an annual cost of more than $3 billion for alcohol-and-drug-related crime, lost productivity and health expenses. And many in the beer industry have no intention of paying for that."
Click here to read the rest of the op-ed.
Marin Institute Creates Beer Tax Calculator Tool
The Marin Institute, a California non-profit alcohol industry watchdog, has created a user-friendly tool to estimate potential new revenue from raising alcohol taxes or fees in every state. Simply input the increase you would like to see and the calculator tells you how much extra revenue you can expect annually. With so many states suffering from budget deficits, it's time to raise taxes and fees on alcohol.
Portland Metro Scores High in OLCC Checks for Alcohol Sales to Minors
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission performed alcohol sales checks to minors in Portland, Gresham and Troutdale on May 19 and 22. The compliance rate averaged 90 percent for both operations, which is well above the 2008 statewide average of 78 percent.
Click here for more information.
Do you have information to share with your prevention colleagues around the state? Please send to: dslifman@orpartnership.org.
Thank you for your continued support of this publication.
