Community Organizing

One year ago, the National Academy of Science (NAS) Institute of Medicine published "Reducing Underage Drinking: a Collective Responsibility." The report broke new ground by emphasizing community level primary prevention rather than individually oriented approaches-and gave a strong endorsement to what the Marin Institute terms "environmental prevention."

The recommendations included in the NAS report offer a new, more robust menu of strategies for communities and prevention practitioners. But making the transition to environmental approaches can be a challenge-especially for those who have relied primarily on individual and educational interventions in the past. This story illustrates how Natasha Manion, of Sherwood, Oregon used an environmental approach to identify multiple opportunities for positive change in an underage drinking environment in her community.

In April 2004, Manion went to the Regal Cinema in Sherwood to see Kill Bill Volume Two. Right away she noticed that, although the film is rated R, the theater was full of young people under 17. While waiting for the movie to begin, Manion watched as a commercial for Jack Daniels played on the screen. The ad takes place outside a club or concert hall where a large group of young people crowds around the door. The bouncer refuses to let anyone inside until a young woman approaches, opening her jacket to show the corner of a bottle hidden inside. After the bouncer lets her enter, you see the young woman-a huge grin on her face-pull out her bottle of Jack Daniels. After the movie, when the lights came up, Manion stood to leave the theater and noticed empty Mickey's Malt Liquor bottles littering the floor between the seats.

It was clear to Manion that many adults had contributed to this occasion of underage drinking; the makers of Jack Daniels who created the ad featuring young looking models sneaking alcohol; the management of Regal Cinema who accepted the ad; the local theater management which did not enforce the R rating, and (while empty bottles must have tipped them off) did nothing to prevent youth from bringing and consuming alcohol in the theater. Although Manion does not know where the young people acquired the Mickey's, she knows it's likely that an adult purchased it for them, sold it to them, or allowed them to take it from home. In addition, Mickey's is a malt liquor, which means that it has a higher alcohol content but is taxed at the same low rate as beer-providing maximum "buzz for the bucks." Mickey's wide mouth bottles also promote intoxication by facilitating quick consumption.

Manion felt that she needed to do something. Her first step was filing a formal complaint about the Jack Daniels ad with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade group representing the makers of Jack Daniels and many other alcoholic beverages. Manion discussed her experience in the theater with other residents, including members of a local youth group. As a result, Manion and some of the youth plan to work together to address this problem in the fall. They will meet with the manager of the movie theater and write letters to the editor of the local paper describing this aspect of the local underage drinking problem. Manion has also shared her observations with the Oregon Partnership, a statewide organization that works to prevent underage drinking and advocates for consistent enforcement of the laws forbidding alcohol sales to youth.

What Manion observed in the movie theater in Sherwood, Oregon shows just how foolish it is to hold young people solely responsible for underage drinking. It also shows that there is work to be done at many levels to make adults accountable for their contributions to this serious health and safety problem. The NAS report gave us a big challenge and like Natasha Manion we all need to make it our own. With a few more people like Natasha we can start to reduce the terrible toll caused by underage drinking.

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