Overview:
The Panhandle Prevention and Intervention Coalition is an effort of Andrea’s Project to collaborate with local nonprofits on substance abuse education. Meetings occur every other month with the next public meeting set for January.
Andrea’s Project is a local organization named in honor of Andrea Elizalde, a high school senior who died in 2019 after a drunk driver lost control of her vehicle. The organization began as a way to use Andrea’s story to educate on the effects of driving while impaired, and has since expanded their mission to include the dangers of substance abuse.
Now, Andrea’s Project has expanded to host a monthly Panhandle Prevention and Intervention Coalition gathering. The coalition, which includes representatives from anti-drug organizations and local government, aims to inform new approaches to substance abuse by collaborating with other non-profits, organizations and community members in the initiative to educate the public. Meetings have been held every other month since March.
“We were kind of coming up with a plan to kind of look at, ‘What do we have in our community to combat [substance abuse], and what’s missing?’ So one of the things [we were missing] was a coalition and really focusing at the age of middle school and young adults,” Dr. Shanna James, Executive Director of Andrea’s Project, said.
At a coalition meeting on Wednesday, Megan Williams from Tobacco Free Amarillo presented information from surveys conducted with AISD students. The surveys contained questions on tobacco, alcohol and peer issues, including bullying and perception of harm.
“In tobacco alone, we’ve seen upwards of a 90% reduction across every grade level, across every year,” Williams said. Those results included various types of tobacco, like cigarettes, vape and dip.
In a statewide study, the Texas Youth Tobacco Survey found that 13.8% of middle and high school students reported having tried e-cigarettes in 2023, a 16% reduction from the 2021 study results.
Tobacco Free Amarillo and Andrea’s Project both hope to administer more surveys to local students, but are awaiting how school districts will interpret House Bill 1605, which gives new guidelines for classroom instruction and materials. The bill has the organizations questioning if the surveys will be permitted to be administered in schools, and what can be included if they are.
James said she feels it’s important for these organizations to gather because these substances—targeted at children and young adults—have large marketing and promotional teams behind them.
“There’s been great conversations that I’ve had with the foundations and things, but it’s also just trying to keep up with the trends and the things that are changing and what’s going on in different industries,” James said.
James said it’s hard to keep up with what e-cigarettes and other substances kids are using since trends change fast and product design is diverse. In a 2020 study, one JUULpod was equivalent to 13-30 cigarettes in nicotine concentration.
Since then, the problem has only gotten worse, said James. “[Some] 13 and 14 year-olds are vaping the equivalent to two packs per day, because when you take a hit off a vape, you’re getting much more nicotine than when you take a hit off a cigarette.”
Tobacco Free Amarillo reports that in the 2023-2024 school year, there were 423 tobacco tips, of which 187 were drug cases. Tobacco Free Amarillo also reports that tobacco sellers in the area have been found selling to underage kids, and 146 citations have been issued to sellers across the Amarillo area.
Another major issue for middle and high school students is the introduction of alcohol, especially alcoholic beverages aimed at younger consumers. These drinks boast flashy designs, brand-recognition and alcohol content labels that consumers have to search to find.
These alcopops are premixed cocktails that look and taste like soda, a branding strategy that can be enticing to young consumers. Drinks classified as alcopops usually “offer a cheap way to get drunk. $10 buys three Four Lokos, equal to 17 standard drinks or a handle of vodka,” according to Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth.
“I’m not expecting the Average Joe to stay up to date. That’s why nonprofits, that’s why advocacy, that’s why groups are so important. Because we just don’t have time to keep up with everything and unfortunately, for a lot of people making money is more important than public health, you or my safety or your child’s health, that’s the bottom line,” James said.
James said she hopes these topics will gain more traction and for more concerned community members to attend the Panhandle Prevention and Intervention Coalition meetings. Meetings occur every other month, with the next meeting scheduled for January. More information about the meetings is available on Andrea’s Project Facebook page.
“Any interested parent, grandparent, business owner, church leader– this is a place for us to come together and make some community-based action items that we think we need,” James said.
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