Summary | About | Statement on the ONDCP Media Campaign | Coalition Outcomes

FY09 President's Budget

On Monday, February 4th, President Bush released his FY 2009 Budget Request to the general public. In it, he recommended cutting a number of vital substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. CADCA’s Public Policy Department issued a legislative alert that includes a summary of the President’s Budget Request for programs of interest to our field, as well as the FY 2009 Field Request numbers.

Resolution Designating February as National Drug Prevention and Education Month

Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) are introducing a resolution designating February 10-16 as National Drug Prevention and Education Week . This resolution encourages communities, schools, parents, and youth to engage in and carry out community-based prevention and education activities and programs to reduce and stop drug use before it starts.

Bong Spirit Vodka Packages Vodka in a Bong

CADCA recently learned of another potentially dangerous and influential product that continues the trend of glamorizing illegal drug use. Released in 2006, Bong Spirit Vodka, produced by the Bong Spirit Import Company, arrives packaged in a bottle shaped like a bong, and is marketed with detailed artwork and graphic design.

While this advertising campaign is polished, it effectively increases the alcohol’s brand appeal, and the artwork is interesting, these features are secondary to the actual product being sold, which is vodka bottled in a device primarily known for smoking marijuana, and marketed under the guise of artistic expression.

To promote its product, Bong Spirit Import Company launched a marketing campaign titled "Spirit of the Brand." Anyone can view Bong Spirit Vodka online by clicking on the following website http://www.spiritofthebrand.com/ and entering a birth date 21 years of age or older. The website is quoted as saying, "The Spirit of the Brand program was created by people who genuinely understand what it means to be artists. We actively seek out designers, performers, musicians and other creative souls from today’s street culture who collectively define Bong Spirit."

It continues, "Other companies often try to influence trends by creating ad campaigns full of illusionary lifestyles and fictitious hipsters. While they lump together one group of vague stereotypes, we know that our consumers are both more intelligent and uniquely individual than any clever ad exec could ever invent."

Bong Spirit Import Company uses a well thought out marketing plan to disguise its rudimentary product, vodka in a bong. CADCA Chairman and CEO, General Arthur T. Dean, has written a letter to the Director of Business of Bong Spirit Import Company to express CADCA’s concern that this product encourages illegal drug use, and urges him to discontinue the practice of packaging alcohol in a bong. If you would like to write a similar letter, please click here.

   CADCA Presidential Primary Election Guide 2008

Find out how to make drug and underage drinking issues a priority!

House and Senate Pass STOP Underage Drinking Act

The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP Act) passed by Unanimous Consent vote in the Senate on Wednesday night, December 06, 2006, and the following morning by a voice vote in the House. The STOP Act now awaits the President's signature. The Act is a bi-cameral, bi-partisan effort that represents an important step in the nation's efforts to combat underage alcohol use and abuse. The original cosponsors of the bill include Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Lucille Roybal-Allard, Congressmen Tom Osborne, Zack Wamp and Frank Wolf, as well as Senators Mike DeWine and Christopher Dodd.

CADCA, the substance abuse prevention field, and the National Alliance to Prevent Underage Drinking have worked together diligently over the last two years through advocacy efforts to support the STOP Act. CADCA held a rally in support of the STOP Act during last year's Forum, where more than 1,000 coalition leaders showed their support for this important piece of legislation.

Provisions of the Act include:

•  increased resources for community coalitions and states to enhance underage drinking prevention efforts;

•  increased federal government leadership and coordination on underage drinking prevention efforts through a federal interagency coordinating committee;

•  a national media campaign on underage drinking aimed at adults; and

•  funding for additional research on underage drinking.

The STOP Act is a comprehensive, coordinated approach that will dramatically reduce underage drinking and its related consequences in communities throughout the country . It will be a part of the lasting legacy of Congressman Osborne and Senator DeWine as they leave Congress.

For additional information please contact David Kurosky at email dkurosky@cadca.org , or 703-706-0560 ext. 255.

The Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Advisory Committee held a hearing that was open to the public on August 21-22, 2006, and invited Local Education Agency (LEA) representatives, State Education Agency (SEA) representatives, representatives from nationally based organizations, such as Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), and researchers to brief them on the strengths and the weaknesses of the SDFSC program.

General Arthur T. Dean, CADCA’s Chairman and CEO briefed the committee.
To view the briefing, click here.

The following individuals also provided briefings:

Jeff Barber, SEA, Indiana Department of Education
To view the briefing, click here.

Mona Johnson, SEA, Washington State Department of Education
To view the briefing, click here.

On June 16, 2006 the House Government Reform, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources held a hearing entitled, “Evaluating the Synthetic Drug Control Strategy”

Sue Thau, CADCA's Public Policy Consultant testified.  View testimony

The following individuals also testified: