Three Angelina County Drug-Free All Stars recently attended Advocacy Day in Austin, an event hosted by Texans for Safe & Drug-Free Youth, the statewide coalition focused on tobacco and alcohol prevention for youth. The three youth in attendance were Nicholas Reyna, Lufkin High School; Jacob Quick, Zavalla High School; and Hannah Spikes, Lufkin High School. The students received information on a range of topics: alcohol-to-go, ready-to-drink alcohol and tobacco prevention policies. Texans for Safe & Drug-Free Youth trained on how to talk to elected officials regarding these topics and helped the youth role-play different scenarios. In the afternoon, the three All Stars went to the Texas Capitol and met with Representative Trent Ashby and Senator Robert Nichols’ staff. The students shared what they learned about the dangers of alcohol to-go and ready-to-drink alcohol and talked about ways to prevent youth tobacco use, including additional funding for prevention and an excise tax on e-cigarette products. Thank you to Representative Ashby and Senator Nichols’ staff for meeting with the Drug-Free All Stars and listening to the issues that youth in our community face regarding tobacco and alcohol.
Since 1988, The Coalition has focused on eliminating the use of harmful substances by affecting public policy, laws, attitudes and behaviors, all in an effort to foster healthy life-long choices for the local community. For more information on the dangers of youth substance use or the Drug-Free All Star program, contact Abby Baker at The Coalition at 936-634-9308.