Stark County Anti-Drug Coalition

A coalition is "a formal arrangement for cooperation and collaboration between groups or sectors of a community, in which each group retains its identity, but all agree to work together toward a common goal of building a safe, healthy and drug-free community."  (CADCA).

The Stark County Anti-Drug Coalition focuses on substance abuse, specifically the creation of an environment where substance abuse is affected.  You may ask, why a coalition and not another program? One is not better than the other and one by itself cannot "fix" the substance abuse problem in Stark County.  We need to think comprehensively.  We need school and community-based education, we need people to receive information on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, we need people to receive assistance when they are using and want to stop using, AND we need to focus on the environment in which we live that promotes or contributes to this use. The environment makes substances accessible; rules, laws and policies in our community that affect substance use. It is essential that we speak with ONE voice if we hope to succeed and see fewer people using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and see the mentality of our community changing to have more people seeing use as an issue to be addressed.

The Coalition has established its own Advisory Committee with approximately eleven individuals from different sectors of the Stark County community.  These individuals are charged with oversight for the Coalition and with ensuring that the Coalition stays focused on its vision and mission and the strategic plan that was developed.  With the award of the Drug Free Communities grant, the Coalition has a five-year strategic plan and a logic model to define goals for the Coalition. Through environmental strategies, the Coalition can address access and availability to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, which was mentioned as a major issue in Stark County when the Adolescent Strategic Mapping process began a couple of years ago.

The Coalition can also advocate for policy changes, provide media messages that support the mission of promoting a drug-free community, and affect the community norm of acceptance of heavy alcohol consumption and underage drinking and drug use.