PCCSA Offers Underage Drinking Prevention Education

Pitt County Coalition on Substance Abuse to host public event on July 28, 2015 featuring the Talk it Out Campaign of the NC ABC Commission

GREENVILLE, NC – 13.9. That’s the average age children in NC take their first drink. To combat this, the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABC) is partnering with the Pitt Coalition on Substance Abuse (PCCSA) to bring a new statewide campaign targeting underage drinking to Pitt County. The new campaign, called Talk It Out, is a multi-media campaign designed to raise awareness of the issue and to give parents the right tools for talking to kids about the dangers of underage drinking.

The public is invited to join the PCCSA on July 28 at 6:00 p.m. at the Seahorse Restaurant to learn more about the campaign and what can be done to reduce underage drinking in Greenville.

“Local community involvement is absolutely critical to the success of the campaign,” said Kat Haney, NC ABC Commission Coalitions Director. “It’s a big state, and we can’t do it alone.”

NC ABC unveiled the Talk It Out campaign along with the Commission’s research, The State of Underage Drinking in North Carolina, in December 2014. The research uncovered that children think underage drinking is a much bigger problem than their parents, and the average age children in North Carolina take their first drink is earlier than most adults tend to think.

In addition to the Commission’s research, several campaign resources are available including tools to combat the problem, TV advertisements to help raise awareness of the issue and a video featuring North Carolina families who have experienced, first-hand, the traumatic consequences of underage drinking.

For more information about the Talk It Out campaign, visit TalkItOutNC.org.

For directions and additional information about the event, call PCCSA at 252.328.0027.

About the Pitt County Coalition on Substance Abuse

The Pitt County Coalition on Substance Abuse is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to bringing about a community where youth reject substance use, adults utilize low-risk choices regarding substance use, and treatment services are available to those in need. For more information about PCCSA, please visit: www.pccsa.org.

About the NC ABC Commission

North Carolina is one of 17 states to regulate alcohol through a control system. Since 1937, the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has provided regulation and control over the sale, purchase, transportation, manufacture, consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages in the state of North Carolina. The Commission oversees permits allowing alcohol sales by more than 18,000 retail outlets across the state. http://abc.nc.gov.

Event Contact:
Elizabeth Montgomery Lee
252-328-2827
pccsa@ecu.edu

Media Contact:
Katherine Haney
919-418-5743
Kat.Haney@abc.nc.gov