Pubdate: Fri, 10 Nov 2006
Source: Cranbury Press (NJ)
Copyright: Packet Online 2006
Contact:  http://www.cranburypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2181
Author: Lacey Korevec, Staff Writer

ALLIANCE FIGHTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Trying New Angles and Approaches

They may not wear uniforms or carry handcuffs, but members of 
Cranbury's Municipal Alliance Committee are hard at work this year 
protecting and educating Cranbury residents of all ages about the 
dangers of substance abuse.

"We've decided to divide our energies into education for the 
children, education for the community, our seniors and parents and 
then alternative activities for our teenagers," Cranbury Municipal 
Alliance Chairwoman Jane Holland said.

The Municipal Alliance was established in 1990 to coordinate 
community efforts to reduce drug and alcohol abuse. This year, 
Cranbury's group is trying to reach residents from different areas of 
the community, especially children, teens and seniors, Ms. Holland said.

The alliance's goals for this school year are to increase the amount 
of education in younger grades to prevent substance abuse in the 
younger grades, involve teenagers in more activities that will 
educate them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, start 
introducing more programs to seniors in the community and develop a 
stronger working relationship with Princeton Township.

In Cranbury, the alliance has to work especially hard at reaching 
students in their younger years, before they attend Princeton High 
School, where the Alliance has less of an influence, she said.

"One of the big concerns for us is that, since our teenagers go to 
Princeton High School, it's important for us to educate them on 
making responsible decisions before they go there," said. "Because 
once they're there, we can no longer have the level of control there 
that we have at Cranbury School where we can address these problems," she said.

In September, the Alliance bought new materials for teaching health 
at Cranbury School, including "beer goggles," educational games with 
questions about substance abuse, work books, DVDs and videos. Ms. 
Holland said the group had some of the materials out for Cranbury Day 
and was pleased with students' response.

"We had out a liver that had been affected by alcoholism and a lung 
that was affected by tobacco use and we had the goggles and we also 
had a game out called Wheel of Misfortune, which was about the 
effects of the drugs," she said. "The kids were pretty enthusiastic 
about it, so I'm sure when we use them in the classrooms, they'll 
have the same reactions."

The Alliance also bought a banner about drug resistance for Cranbury 
School and provided handouts for students during Red Ribbon Week, a 
national drug resistance week that took place in Oct. 23 through Oct. 27.

Providing teens with activities that serve as alternative options to 
drug and alcohol use is one of the main focuses for the Municipal 
Alliance, Ms. Holland said.

"It's just to show them they can have fun and have something to do 
with their friends that does not have to involve alcohol and drugs," she said.

There is a free game night that will be held Dec. 15 for Cranbury 
students who attend Princeton High School. At the event, which will 
be held at The Fun House in Hightstown, the Alliance will also hand 
out materials about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

On Jan. 19, the group will be holding a free event at Cranbury School 
called Jam Fest, where middle school bands can play music while other 
students relax and play games like ping-pong and air hockey.

The Alliance also will be sponsoring sixth-through eighth-grade 
Cranbury students in a statewide contest, to which students can 
submit an original, 30-second script for a public service 
announcement on drugs and alcohol. The winning script will be aired 
on television, Ms. Holland said.

"Our plan is to have a contest in the school and we will award prizes 
for the best choices in our school and then submit them to the 
state," she said. "The one that wins at the state level will be 
turned into a public service announcement."

In May, the Alliance will team up with the Cranbury Recreation 
Department for the second year in a row to hold a teen event known as 
Battle of the Bands. The event, held in the Cranbury School 
auditorium, gives high school bands a chance to compete for local fame.

"We had a great turnout," Ms. Holland said of last year's event, 
which included six local bands. "It was really popular with the kids. 
It's one of the few occasions where high school bands get to perform 
for an audience of their peers."

Ms. Holland said the alliance is especially interested in reaching 
out to senior citizens this year, a group that is not often thought 
of when trying to protect against substance abuse.

On Nov. 16, the group will be bringing a speaker from the National 
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to Fellowship Hall in the 
First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury to talk to local seniors about 
prescription drug abuse, Ms. Holland said. The free event is being 
co-sponsored by the church. All community members are welcome to attend.

Reaching out to Cranbury's seniors through events like this is 
important because the number of seniors is always increasing, she said.

"Oftentimes, you have seniors taking multiple medications and they're 
not always aware of what the interactions are, or they're used to 
having a drink before dinner or wine with dinner and suddenly they've 
been prescribed a medication that has a contradiction with that," she said.

Ms. Holland said steering students at Cranbury School and Princeton 
High School away from drugs and alcohol is a crucial mission 
nowadays. Though she doesn't know to what extent it is a problem, she 
said she is sure there are cases of drug use in Cranbury.

"We do know from past experience that, ordinarily, the No. 1 drug of 
choice when the police do run into it is alcohol, and statistically, 
in the state of New Jersey, there's a growing problem with underage 
drinking," she said. "The state really feels now that alcohol is the 
gateway drug."

Cranbury's Municipal Alliance is a group that is not often noticed in 
Cranbury, Ms. Holland said. But the Alliance and Township 
Committeeman Wayne Wittman, who serves as the Alliance's township 
representative, want to change that. Ms. Holland added that Cranbury 
seems like it doesn't have a major drug problem; however, the 
Alliance and the community have to work to keep it that way.

"We're so small and it seems that we're surrounded by our farms and 
our historical buildings," she said. "And we forget that we really 
are in the middle of a very large state. We're very near the 
turnpike, we're between Philadelphia and New York and we're very 
close to Trenton, and all of those places have problems with drugs."
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