First Lady Katie O'Malley Welcomes Admiral Steven K. Galson, MD, MPH, Acting Surgeon General fo the United States to Maryland

Issues Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking;
First Lady Announces Creation of Prevention of Underage Drinking Subcommittee

 

ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 26, 2009) - First Lady Katie O'Malley, joined by Acting U.S. Surgeon General Admiral Steven K. Galson, MD, MPH, and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers today met with students at Chinquapin Middle School to discuss the problems of underage drinking. Surgeon General Galson has issued a nationwide Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. Maryland is the 13th state visit.

"I want to thank Surgeon General Galson for coming to Maryland today to talk about this major public health problem," said First Lady Katie O'Malley. "As a judge, I see the tragic results of underage drinking far too often - alcohol use by teenagers too frequently becomes alcohol abuse and drug abuse. Here in Maryland, we know that those of our kids who stay away from alcohol are far more likely to do well in school and avoid addiction and abuse later in life."

During their visit, First Lady O'Malley, Surgeon General Galson and Secretary Colmers met with students who were enrolled in the school's "WhyTry?" program, a hands-on curriculum which helps youth overcome their challenges and improve outcomes in the areas of truancy, behavior, and academics. WhyTry teaches critical social and emotional principles to youth (K-12) using a series of ten pictures that teach a principle, such as resisting peer-pressure. Chinquapin Middle School was chosen due to their active involvement in the "Why Try" program, a series of courses designed to encourage children to make positive choices and to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the instances of underage substance abuse.

"Underage drinking is a serious public health problem," said John Colmers, Secretary of Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. "Under Governor Martin O'Malley, Maryland will marshal every possible resource - public and private; local, state and federal - to educate and protect our youth from the dangers of alcohol use and abuse."

First Lady O'Malley today also announced the creation of Prevention of Underage Drinking Coordinating Council that will serve as a subcommittee under the Maryland State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, created by Governor Martin O'Malley last year.

Judge O'Malley is a member of the initiative Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free. This project was established to make childhood drinking prevention a top priority on a national level. The Leadership project is a non-partisan, non-profit organization comprised of Governors' spouses, Federal agencies, and public and private organizations. It is currently the only national effort that specifically targets prevention of drinking in the 9 to 15-year-old age group.

"Underage alcohol use remains a major public health and safety problem in the U.S., creating serious consequences for adolescents, their families, communities, and the Nation as a whole," said Acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. "The problems associated with underage drinking will not go away on their own. Only by working together can we make a difference." In 2007, the Office of the Surgeon General released a Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking to focus national attention on underage alcohol use.

Governor Martin O'Malley has proposed comprehensive legislation this year that would prevent and reduce underage drinking in the State of Maryland. SB 299/HB 261 would specifically prohibit an individual under the age of 21 from consuming, or exhibiting specified effects from consuming alcoholic beverages; would make the furnishing of an alcoholic beverage to an individual under the age of 21 a crime under specified circumstances; would establish penalties for violations of the Act, and would require the Motor Vehicle Administration to suspend for 6 months the driver's license of a person who commits specified alcohol- related violations.

Last year, the O'Malley-Brown Administration created the Maryland Prevention of Underage Drinking Coordinating Council as a specific mission of the Maryland State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council. The purpose of the Council is to evaluate and energize the broad range of public and private resources we already have in Maryland and help coordinate those resources, to develop effective public policy, and to work to create new programs designed to combat the consumption of alcohol by Maryland youth.

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