April is Alcohol Awareness Month A substance abuse prevention group asks public to get involved BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - April is Alcohol Awareness Month and a local substance prevention group is asking that the public be aware of an underage-drinking epidemic. The theme for Alcohol Awareness Month this year is "Saving Lives: Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking." "[The public can] take notice of their own attitude towards alcohol because that is what teaches our youth," said Shannon Berry, coordinator with the Coastal Monmouth Alliance, based in Long Branch. "It's also important that the public take notice of their attitude towards alcohol and how that will affect the adolescents of the community," Berry said. The alliance provides the communities of Long Branch, West Long Branch and Oceanport with resource guides that offer information regarding a full spectrum of treatment facilities, "need to know" information and more. The office, located at 344 Broadway in Long Branch, provides outpatient therapy to adults in the community. The alliance also has information on out-of-state in-patient treatment facilities. According to the alliance monthly newsletter, one of the problems with alcohol is that it eventually is legal. "After the age of 21, an adult may decide that getting completely inebriated in a public place and having some random stranger shove them in a cab is completely acceptable behavior; after all, they are 21," the newsletter states. "This does not even address those who feel invincible enough to get behind the wheel of a car after becoming intoxicated. "The argument consistently [heard] from youth regarding alcohol is that it's going to be legal eventually, so how bad can it be," the newsletter states. The alliance is asking that the public be aware this month. "Please, at least for this month, be aware of alcohol. Aware of how much alcohol you consume. [Aware of] how the mediamarkets alcohol.Aware of how you talk about alcohol in front of children," according to the newsletter. Several statistics are listed in the April newsletter, including that each year an estimated 5,000 youths die from alcohol related injuries involving underage drinking. It also lists that underage drinking costs the country nearly $62 billion a year in medical care, lost productivity and the pain and suffering of young drinkers, and that each day more than 5,000 kids in America take their first drink of alcohol before they turn 16 years old. Berry said that the members of the public can heighten their awareness of media messaging regarding alcohol. "It is important that the public is aware of the underage drinking epidemic right now," Berry said. "They can read the newsletter and, most importantly, be aware of their own consumption of alcohol," she said. The next Coastal Monmouth Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse meeting is planned for May 8 from 6-8 p.m.; the location is to be announced. For more information, call the alliance at (732) 571-6512. TheAddictions Hotline of New Jersey is 1-800-238-2333 and the Alcoholics Anonymous number is 1-800-245-1377.