Oct 22, 2009

Coalition resources: Annual Survey of Coalitions

Drug type: Methamphetamine, Prescription Drug

Prescription drug abuse was ranked among the top five problems facing community anti-drug coalitions in 2008, indicating that this continues to be a growing trend across the country. That's according to CADCA's 2008 Annual Survey of Coalitions, an annual survey of drug prevention community coalitions, which represents the only current, national database of community anti-drug coalitions.

In fact, in 2008 40 percent of coalitions ranked prescription drug abuse as their fourth biggest problem, while in 2006 prescription drug abuse was ranked at number five, with only 20 percent ranking it as a top problem.

“It’s evident from our survey that prescription drug abuse has grown in communities and is considered by many coalitions to be a major substance problem facing the members of their community,” said Gen. Arthur T. Dean, CADCA Chairman and CEO. “This isn’t surprising, however, considering that other major national surveys, such as the National Survey on Drug Use and Health [by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration], show that prescription drug abuse is still being abused by both young and old in unacceptable numbers.”

Meanwhile, the substance taking the top spot consistently in CADCA’s Annual Survey is alcohol, with 82 percent of coalitions ranking it as their number one problem, followed by marijuana and tobacco. In contrast, methamphetamine use appears to have decreased as a community concern since 2006, with 28 percent ranking it as a top problem—down from 35 percent.

In 2008, 716 community coalitions participated in CADCA’s Annual Survey of Coalitions. The survey collects a variety of coalition-related information, such as what activities coalitions are using for their drug prevention efforts, demographics, sector/community representation, evaluation and monitoring, and primary substances of concern.

For example, coalitions answered questions about various interventions they had implemented in the past 12 months to address substance abuse in their communities. Most coalitions (71 percent) indicate involvement in media public awareness activities that specifically address alcohol problem reduction, such as posters, public service announcements, advertisements, commercials and billboard campaigns. Meanwhile, 15 percent are engaged in screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) activities such as substance abuse assessment in the emergency room, primary care offices, etc.

Other interventions that coalitions used were:

• Compliance checks for alcohol or tobacco sales to underage individuals (56 percent)
• “Shoulder tap” enforcement programs (12 percent)
• Social host ordinances (21 percent)
• Workplace programs or policies to address substance abuse (21 percent)

The survey also found that many more coalitions are collecting data to assess their long-term outcomes, jumping from 42 percent in 2006 to 71 percent in 2008.

This is only a small amount of valuable coalition-level information that is tracked in CADCA’s Annual Survey of Coalitions. Coalitions that complete the Annual Survey have access to this information. In addition, they can access information about coalitions in their state so that they can network with these coalitions and learn from each other. CADCA coalition members that complete the Annual Survey have expanded access with the ability to explore nationwide networking information from the survey.