HTSAC Wins Grant to Educate on Alcoholic Energy Drinks

By Amber Lester Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A can of Joose and a can of Monster energy drink look nearly identical. Both cans are tall and skinny, with bright, jagged type over a black background. The only difference is one is alcoholic and the other is not.

The Historic Triangle Substance Abuse Coalition has a new chance to educate the public, particularly teens, about the differences between alcoholic and non-alcoholic energy drinks. The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control presented HTSAC with a $10,000 check Tuesday morning to expand its abuse prevention efforts.

Inspired by the sale of Red Bull Vodka martinis in bars across the county, drink companies started introducing alcoholic energy drinks in the past decade. The drinks are geared toward adults ages 21-34, but are increasingly consumed by teens, according to Nadia Williams, a project coordinator for HTSAC.

A study by the Marin Institute found alcoholic energy drinks were priced to cost less than regular energy drinks and are packaged to look exactly like their non-alcoholic counterparts. The only difference is that non-alcoholic energy drinks have the nutritional information on the can; alcoholic drinks do not. The report cites a teen’s post on the Facebook wall for Sparks, an alcoholic drink that comes in four flavors: “I’m only 18 and I had a six-pack of Sparks in my room and my mom found it, but she had no idea and thought they were just energy drinks.”

Alcoholic energy drinks combine alcohol with high levels of caffeine in sugary sweet, carbonated beverages. “There’s a saying for this: It’s like having a teenager press on the gas and brake at the same time,” Williams says. “The car doesn’t function the same way.”

HTSAC will put the $10,000 grant toward producing and airing advertisements about alcoholic energy drinks and funding the James City County Police Department’s “Every 30 Minutes” program. “Our overall goal for this grant is to reduce youth alcohol use by addressing community risk factors that perpetuate youth alcohol consumption and increase protective factors that deter alcohol use,” Williams says.

HTSAC will work with Screenvision Direct to produce a movie ad that will screen before movie showings at Regal New Town and Movie Tavern cinemas. The ads will be targeted to audiences of blockbusters and some adult films, with the goal of reaching as many teens and their parents as possible. The ads will be shown 842 times on 20 screens over 40 weeks.

Some of the grant money will also go toward the police department’s “Every 30 Minutes” program. The program seeks to help teens understand the consequences of drinking and driving in the most frank, realistic way possible. The program has been in place for several years and alternates around the county; this year, officers will visit Lafayette High School and Warhill High School. For two days just prior to prom, juniors and seniors will learn that someone is killed by a drunk driver every 30 minutes. Throughout the first day, students will be taken out of class every 30 minutes, made over to look deceased, given a fake death certificate and asked to not interact with peers for the rest of the day.

At the end of the first day, the police set up a mock car accident on school grounds, with student volunteers portraying the passengers. Some students will have fake injuries, one will be charged with driving under the influence and one will die in the mock accident, as the rest of the junior and senior classes watch.

The fire department takes some of the students to the hospital, where they learn more about what it would be like to be treated for an accident. The student charged with driving under the influence goes to court to learn about the legal system. The student who is “fatally” injured is taken to a funeral home, where his or her parents are asked to come and identify the body. Lt. Anthony Dallman, of the James City County Police Community Services Unit, says parents volunteer to participate to show the emotional impact of traumatic events.

That night, the student volunteers go to a retreat where they are asked to write letters to their families or their own obituaries. Meanwhile, their parents write them goodbye letters. On the second day, the letters are read at a school assembly. Dallman says there is never a dry eye in the house. “It’s a pretty moving program,” he says.

Virginia ABC Education Coordinator Regina Whitsett said it was the creativity of the program that struck the grant review committee. She was on hand Tuesday to deliver the grant check in a short ceremony at the new School of Education building. “We’re really proud of HTSAC’s creative, innovative projects,” she said.

The one-year grant will run through May 31. It was funded through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.