Environmental Strategies

Aims to help raise awareness among youth, peers and other members of the Community regarding access to tobacco and alcohol and the prevalence of advertising and promotion of these products in Vallejo

The Vallejo Alcohol Tobacco Policy Coalition (VATPC) established in 1992, is a community-based group committed to reducing the toll alcohol-related problems take on the community of Vallejo. Our mission is to "serve as a vehicle for the citizens of Vallejo to educate the community about the alcohol environment and impact policy to reduce the risk associated with the consumption of alcohol." Our accomplishments include:

Conditional Use Permit (CUP): Working with Vallejo City Council, the VAPC was successful in passing a conditional use permit (CUP) for alcoholic beverages that provides a mechanism for groups to participate in the decisions the City makes regarding alcohol issues. A CUP is an ordinance, adopted by a city or county that provides for operating "conditions" on all new alcohol outlets, and those changing ownership or the manner in which they do business.

Deem Approved Ordinance: The VATPC has worked on an ordinance that allows the City to place operating conditions on existing alcohol outlets that are causing problems in neighborhoods. This ordinance regulates the operations of outlets existing prior to the passage of the CUP.

Responsible Beverage Service (RBS): The VATPC provides RBS training to owners, managers and staff of alcohol outlets to ensure they know the laws that govern their business as well as their responsibilites, including how to check I.D.'s and minors and techniques on how to deal with intoxicated patrons so the community is protected. Currently RBS training is available on a fee for service basis.

Compliance with Vallejo Window Ordinance: Vallejo has a 15% limit on window advertising. The VATPC's citizen volunteers check the window advertising in alcohol outlets and provides a report to the business owners regarding their compliance with this local law. If in violation it will give them the opportunity to correct it. If businesses do no comply with the law, they will be reprted to the Police Department to ensure the problem of over-advertised windows is stopped.

Application Review: The VATPC takes an active part in reviewing all new applications for alcohol licenses within the city. A careful investigation is made into the neighborhood conditions, the feelings of the neighbors and the needs of commerce in Vallejo.

Problem Outlets: The VATPC takes a strong stand against liquor stores which pose a health and safety risk to the citizens of the city. Working with neighbors, the police department and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), VATPC helps to rid Vallejo of stores which sell to minors, sell to people who are already drunk or whose practices create a magnet for drug dealing, prostitution and public intoxication.

YOUTH PARTNERSHIP

This youth project of Vallejo Fighting Back Partnership focuses on the issue of youth-targeted alcohol and tobacco advertising and the availability of these products in the City of Vallejo. The fact is that each day, more than 3,000 young people begin to smoke or take their first drink - this is more than one million each year, and the number is on the rise.

Alcohol and tobacco advertising glamorizes alcohol/tobacco and associates them with success, sophistication, athletic ability, and sex. The fact that some alcohol and tobacco products are cheap and easy for youth to buy contributes to the ease in which youth get these products. Also, because some alcohol outlets use "high risk" selling practices, -for example failing to check I.D.s., it has prompted communities to team up with law enforcement agencies to do "stings" and find out which outlets are selling alcohol to minors.

Fighting Back Partnership, with this project, aims to help raise awareness among youth, peers and other members of the community regarding access to tobacco and alcohol and the prevalence of advertising and promotion of these products in Vallejo. Increasing community awareness will get the stage for more public policy and action. A report from the Surgeon General has stated that the most effective preventive programs to reduce youth drinking and smoking are community-wide ones that combine education, youth involvement, and public policy approach.

The main goal of Youth Partnership is to have youth work with local businesses, law enforcement agencies, community members and the media to help reduce the demand and use of alcohol/tobacco among their peers by reducing the level of promotion and availability of alcohol and tobacco targeted at youth. Also, we wish to institute a program to promote strong positive youth role models in the community. To reach these goals, the following activities are used:

Youth Safe Zone: Youth work with alcohol storeowners to arrange the store setup to create a safe zone where they can purchase snacks and soft drinks without being exposed to alcohol and tobacco displays/ads. At the check out counter we seek to have cigarettes and hard liquor out of view of youth.

Decoys: After proper training, youth volunteers work with the Vallejo Police Department to visit stores to review and enforce compliance of liquor and tobacco laws in regards to sales to minors. Minors under 17 years of age participate in tobacco stings while those between 18 and 19 years old engage in alcohol stings.

Billboards Checking: Youth will keep track of alcohol and tobacco billboards in residential areas, schools, child care centers, youth centers and other locations where children are likely to be present and work with business owners to change this business practice.

Stamp Out: This project consists in having interns work with all kinds of magazines and search for alcohol and tobacco advertisements (awareness). When they find advertisement they proceed to take the pre-paid subscription coupons and stamp them with this printed message: "Please don't advertise alcohol/tobacco" then these coupons are sent to the company. This activity empowers them with the idea that they can influence people who control how these advertisement dollars are distributed in the magazines.

Community Volunteering: They participate in activities that involve adults, in settings that help improve neighborhoods (clean-ups, presentations) that have suffered deterioration as a consequence of the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. They have the opportunity to be interviewed by the media (newspaper reporters, TV and radio stations reporters) in regards to the reasons why they participate.

The interns have been meeting every week since March 3, 1997. Their age ranges from 13 to 19 years old, and when asked why they keep coming back, since they may have other things to do, these are some of their responses:

  1. These activities increase their self-esteem; they have an opportunity to meet new friends
  2. They learn the reasons why not to smoke and drink; they feel they are doing something productive
  3. This project provides the opportunity to improve their resume for college
  4. They are learning and applying leadership skills; they learn to speak in public
  5. They qualify for community hours for schools related projects

One of the main complaints young people have is that they have nothing to do and that they are always bored. These are words that you will not hear from the youth that have joined Youth Partnership

For more information, contact Mark Mora at 707 648 -4030