April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Drinking too much alcohol can lead to health problems, including alcohol poisoning, and an increased risk of heart disease. This April, during Alcohol Awareness Month, the Putnam County Communities That Care (CTC) Coalition encourages you to take this time to educate yourself and your loved ones about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

In New York State alone, there were 1,156 drunken driving fatalities in 2009.  One third of the fatalities in New York State involve impaired or intoxicated drivers and pedestrians. Young drinking drivers are at the highest risk of all. Drivers 20 years old or younger are almost three times more likely to be involved in alcohol related fatal crashes than other drivers. To spread the word and prevent alcohol abuse, the Putnam CTC Coalition is joining other organizations across the country to honor Alcohol Awareness Month to prevent alcohol abuse in our community.

According to the 2010 Communities That Care Prevention Needs Assessment Survey, 64% of Putnam County youth grades 8-12 have used alcohol in their lifetime.  Tragic health, social and economic problems result from the use of alcohol by youth. Underage drinking is a causal factor in a host of serious problems, including homicide, suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, high risk sex, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisoning, and need for treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence.

Community norms that foster alcohol abuse are a major factor. Parental support, monitoring and communication can significantly reducing drinking among adolescents.

The CTC Coalition encourages all parents to:

• Increase awareness of alcohol use disorders and the success of prevention and treatment.
• Educate yourself and loved ones, especially our youth, about the dangers of alcohol abuse.
• Support and encourage referrals for treatment for individuals when an alcohol addiction is suspected or present.

If you are drinking too much, you can improve your health by cutting back or quitting. Keep track of how much you drink, avoid places where overdrinking occurs, and find new ways to deal with stress. If you are concerned about someone else’s drinking, offer to help.

Members of the Putnam CTC Coalition is available if you have any questions or would like for us to do a presentation to your organization on this or any other substance abuse trends that affect our children. Please call the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependencies of Putnam at 845-225-4646, Ext. 13 for further information and referral services. Please visit and join us on Facebook by searching “Putnam County Communities That Care – NY or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PutnamCTCNY.