(Seguin) — Guadalupe County is doing its part to bring awareness to drug and alcohol use among adults and youth people in the community and to let them know that there are resources out there not just for treatment but for prevention. The county recently proclaimed the month of April as Alcohol Awareness Month. The effort is supported by the Guadalupe County Community Coalition and the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Awareness.
Abigail Moore, chief executive officer of the SA Council on Alcohol and Drug Awareness, says these proclamations are not just ceremonial but more of an effort to decrease stigma and misunderstandings to dismantle the barriers that often prevent people from treatment and recovery. She says this is especially true when it involves the youth.
“Most children don’t consume alcohol. However, the data tells us the average use of first use is 13 years old. So, when they first begin to try it, 13 is a young age. It is important that we do the prevention work and get to the kids, to their families and to the community at an early age. Research also shows that the younger a young person begins to experiment, they are four times more likely to become chemically dependent as an adult. So, the earlier that we intervene and the younger that folks prevent substances especially alcohol use, the most important it is as they get older and they aren’t at risk for dependency,” said Moore.
Substance dependency also has a community impact. Moore says that impact often has a price that we all end up paying.
“We see aggressive behavior, property damage, injury, violence, inability to function well in school and also death, underage drinking results in alcohol poisoning with many young people. This is not a simple family’s problem. It’s a nationwide problem,” said Moore.
Moore’s comments were made during a recent meeting of the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court.