Substance Abuse Prevention Education

The CATALYST Coalition began in 2005 as an answer to the higher-than-average youth substance use rates in Napa County. NCOE received a federal grant focused on reducing and preventing underage alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use in Napa County with the collective strengths, expertise, and engagement of our broad collaborative of interested community members. Although grant funding ended in 2015, community partners continued to meet and collaborate on ways to prevent youth substance use in Napa County. Members lead activities for Take Down Tobacco, Red Ribbon Week, Alcohol Awareness Month, student wellness fairs, Social Host Awareness campaigns, substance use treatment, counseling, parent support group and much more.

Following the success of CATALYST, another coalition was formed to specifically target the UpValley areas of Napa County. The UpValley Partnership for Youth began in 2015 and is currently in year three of a five federal funded grant to continue our work to raise awareness about the harms of underage drinking and reduce youth access through local control. NCOE is fortunate to collaborate with the UpValley Family Centers to run the UpValley Partnership for Youth coalition.

12 Sectors:

• Youth (persons <= 18 years of age)
• Parents – Ask Vanessa for recommendations – COOL School/Camille Creek Newsletters
• Business community/Industry – Vintners/Farm workers
• Media – Napa Register
• Schools – NVUSD
• Youth-serving organizations – Jeni Olsen – Mentis , LGBTQ Connection – Ian
• Law enforcement agencies – Napa Police/Sheriff
• Religious or fraternal organizations
• Civic and volunteer groups
• Healthcare professionals – Jennifer Henn – Public Health , Clinic Ole
• State, local or tribal agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse – Nancy Wynne de Rivera – FNL
• Other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse – Dulce Murillo – Aldea

Affiliated organizations:

• Aldea
• Napa County Public Health
• Mentis
• Napa County Office of Education
• Friday Night Live

One of our greatest success through this work was the countywide adoption of the Social Host Ordinance to help prevent the access of alcohol by teens in the home. LEARN MORE (external website, new window) about the Social Host Ordinance in Napa County.  

The coalition also focuses on cannabis prevention and education through our Cannabis subcommittee. Underage cannabis use is an evolving and rapidly changing landscape given the passage of Prop 64 allowing for adults to use cannabis recreationally. Our goal is to educate parents and teens on the importance of delaying cannabis use until brain development is complete and the importance of safe use of cannabis.

Additional Resources For Parents, Mentors, and Youth
What Parents and Mentors Need to Know About Cannabis (external website, new window)

At age 21 all of our California young people will have the legal right to use alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana. However, current prevention programs lack evidence based information on how young people can stay safe and make healthy decisions about these legal adult substances. To address this gap in education, NCOE staff created a presentation on what high students should know about alcohol, tobacco (specifically vapes), and marijuana. Through early education and a harm reduction approach, we can delay youth use of these substances and prevent the start of addictive substances like the nicotine in vape pens.