Arizona Profile 1997

Drug Strategies

Making A Difference
Prevention Programs

>>Green Valley
Preventing Substance Abuse Among Seniors
Grief, loneliness and physical handicaps place senior citizens at high risk for substance abuse. Green Valley's Elder Education & Prevention Program, run by La Frontera, Inc., prevents substance abuse among retired residents of Southern Arizona. The program began in 1991, and emphasizes education about alcohol-most commonly abused by this population. Seniors learn how alcohol affects their medical conditions, and about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs or mixing them with alcohol and other drugs. La Frontera offers free blood pressure checks, substance abuse information, medication advice and free pill box organizers at the Green Valley Wal-Mart. Activities also include group trips to reduce loneliness and workshops on coping with loss, depression and retirement. In 1995, over 1,300 senior citizens took part in the Green Valley program. For more information, call (520) 625-0876.

>>Statewide
CHAMPS with Positive Peer Pressure
To have a real impact, peer leaders should represent members of every social group, not just the best students or athletes. CHAMPS (Champs Have and Model Positive Peer Skills) began in 1989, with funds from the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. Selected through peer nominations, CHAMPS leaders serve as tutors and peer mediators, and participate in Student Discipline Councils and Student Support Teams. An estimated 30,000 students, teachers and school administrators representing all grade levels have received CHAMPS training since 1989. CHAMPS focusses on decision making, controlling anger and choosing healthy alternatives to alcohol, tobacco and drugs. In the year following participation, CHAMPS schools had an 80 percent drop in discipline referrals, a 70 percent reduction in vandalism incidents, and a 20 percent decrease in absenteeism. The program currently receives funds from Federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, State Chemical Abuse, Chapter I & II, and student activity funds. For more details on CHAMPS, call (602) 991-9110.

>>Tucson
HIV Risk Education Pays Off
Drug users are at increased risk for contracting HIV, due to injection drug use as well as unsafe sexual activity. Reducing high risk behavior through education is the mission of the Community Outreach Project on AIDS in Southern Arizona (COPASA). Started by Amity in 1991 through the University of Arizona, COPASA educates injection drug users on using condoms and cleaning needles, and provides HIV testing and referral for health services. Research on 1,700 participants, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found that COPASA reduced high risk behaviors among drug users by 15 to 58 percent. Following a minimum of 2 skill building sessions, participants' high risk drug use (injecting with dirty needles) was more easily curtailed than their high risk sexual behavior-a finding which will impact outreach programs nationwide. Other COPASA programs include HIV outreach specifically designed for women drug users, and studies on how drug users establish goals and contemplate changing their lives. For more details, contact COPASA at (520) 744-0048.

>>Statewide
Powerful Tobacco Messages for Kids
Arizona's Tobacco Education and Prevention Program (AzTEPP) in the Department of Health Services began in January 1996. The program aims to keep all youth and pregnant women in Arizona tobacco free, protect residents from the hazards of environmental tobacco smoke, and provide modern, affordable services to those who wish to quit smoking. Funded by statewide tobacco excise tax revenues, the program has a step-by-step calendar to accomplish these goals by 2001.

Project activities are coordinated through community coalitions, and local schools. Youth access to tobacco and merchant education are also addressed through the local initiatives. Local outcomes will be measured in biennial adult and youth tobacco use surveys. The ad campaign is viewed as a national model and is being replicated in several other states. AzTEPP has a toll-free hotline for smoking cessation (1-800-556-6222), as well as a resource clearinghouse (1-800-432-2772), and an Internet site: http://www.tepp.org

The Riester Corporation administers the statewide youth media campaign. Five different television commercials (in English and Spanish) have been produced to date, each one featuring intense, humorous graphic images along with the campaign slogan: "Tobacco. Tumor Causing, Teeth Staining, Smelly, Puking Habit." Arizona youth can hear the slogan on their favorite radio stations and print ads are displayed on mall kiosks. T-shirts and baseball caps bearing the slogan are also given to kids. For more information on the Riester Corporation's media campaign, call (602) 220-9242.

>>Nogales
Crossing Borders for Prevention
In August 1996, U.S. Customs at the Nogales port of entry found 155 pounds of marijuana hidden in a Mexican school bus on a field trip to Tucson. To reduce drug use and trafficking in Arizona, prevention programs must also cross international borders. The VECINOS (Neighbors) Coalition is the only borderwide U.S. coalition working binationally with counterparts in Mexico. Managed by the Arizona-Mexico Border Health Foundation, VECINOS is a coalition of community partnerships, including Santa Cruz County (JUNTOS UNIDOS), Yuma County (Puentes de Amistad) and Cochise County (Compañeros). Supported by CSAP, VECINOS supports collaborative prevention activities with officials and community members in both Arizona and Sonora. Recent activities involved the Mexican Consulate, Municipal Health Departments in Sonora, Mexico, binational health councils, and local schools and law enforcement. Since 1995, VECINOS supported 165 prevention projects in two countries. With support from the U.S. State Department and the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Association, VECINOS will soon publish the first-ever binational substance use survey for the Arizona-Sonora border region. VECINOS shares its international experience by hosting and providing technical assistance to prevention professionals from Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. Binational plans are underway for prevention and treatment services for this border region. To contact VECINOS, call the Arizona-Mexico Border Health Foundation at (520) 761-4412.

>>Casa Grande
Planting the Seeds for Neighborhood Revitalization
In addition to helping kids reject drugs, gangs and crime, promising programs give them something to say "yes" to. Seeds of Hope, a non-profit, Christian organization in Casa Grande, does this through neighborhood improvement and positive children's programs. In 1993, Seeds of Hope asked tenants in Cabana Properties rental units to identify concerns about their community, and a five-year community revitalization program followed. To build trust and cooperation with residents, the executive director of Seeds of Hope moved into the community along with his family. Out of the newfound community activism which emerged, one rental unit in the complex was transformed into a community center where children go for ballet and piano lessons, bowling, movies and other social activities. Seeds of Hope founded five separate Boys' and Girls' Clubs chapters at Cabana. For teens, the Big Brother/BigSister program provides mentors and during the summer, a teacher-supervised program for elementary age children is available five days a week. Funded by the Pinal Gila Behavioral Health Association, Seeds of Hope's next project is a home ownership program, helping residents buy their rental units. For details, call Seeds of Hope at (520) 836-6335.

>>Eloy
Rural Community Maximizes Local Resources
In rural areas, stretching prevention resources is a real challenge. The Pinal Hispanic Council (PHC), an advocacy group formed in 1979, is meeting that challenge. The PHC addresses political, educational and behavioral health issues in the small, mostly Mexican-American community of Eloy, north of Tucson. The PHC provides direct services and successfully coordinates those services with other agencies. In 1991, a million dollar grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) helped the PHC develop effective home-based, outreach treatment services for adolescents, including case management, individual and family counseling, and life skills training for about 100 youth each year. The PHC helps administer two alternative schools for adolescents. Burger King Academy, funded through Burger King, provides life skills training and therapeutic groups, as well as an academic curriculum. Villa Oasis, a facility for court-referred juveniles, provides intensive case management, individual and group therapy, life skills training and aftercare for juvenile probationers and migrants. Through public school Family Resource Centers, PHC offers support groups, crisis intervention, and parent education. Other activities include the Youth Enterprise Project, which teaches youth about business, and substance abuse prevention workshops. HIV and teen pregnancy prevention are also available. Through the Arizona Governor's Alliance Against Drugs, PHC also works with public school, law enforcement and local government officials. Contact the Pinal Hispanic Council at (520) 466-3608 for more information.

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