Town Hall Meeting to Address Underage Drinking

On Tuesday, March 25, 2008, The TIPSY Coalition and The Stump The Violence Youth held a Town Hall Meeting in The City Of Hartford's Town Hall Counsel Chambers to raise awareness in the community about underage drinking and it's risks. They encouraged community involvement in preventing underage drinking by making people aware of current efforts and suggested ways to become involved.

Mr. Andrew Woods, Executive Director, along with Councilman Jim Boucher, the host of our Town Hall Meeting.

This event was also attended by over sixty youth, and adults, Councilwoman rJo Winch, representatives from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and leadership from several City of Hartford Departments and representation from Congressman John Larson's Office.

On April 14th, 2008, the TIHPSY Coalition's recommendations were added to The City Council Agenda and referred to the Health and Human Services Committee to explore the feasibility of our recommendations.

Youth Leader Dylan Leonard, presented on the Risk Factors Prioritization process which consisted in determining their level of importance and changeability.




They educated the public on the dangers of underage drinking with the help of Federal, State and Local Data as well as the Hartford Communities that Care Survey Report.


Stump The Violence Program Director Joseph Wilkerson, and Youth Leader Jaimee Williams presented on the Risk Factor: Low Enforcement of Liquor Laws, concerning Hartford's need for an increase in Compliance Checks and DUI Checkpoints in Hartford.




The youth themselves spearheaded the gathering and organizing of this data, along with Mr. Andrew Woods. They found not only the value of changing the community environment where underage drinking takes place, but also changing what is considered normal in the environment is a big step to prevent young people from trying alcohol.


Youth Trainer Camarr Williams and Youth Leaders Sequoa McLeggon and Dylan Leonard presented on the Risk Factor: Peer Norms that Accept and Encourage Underage Drinking.




The alcohol industry has made it their responsibility to advertise to the public, and specifically the youth about the newest alcohol on the market such as Ciroc Vodka, endorsed by Sean "Puffy" Combs AKA "P. Diddy" through the use of commercials and bill boards around Hartford.



This is the corner of Homestead Avenue and Albany Avenue, a few blocks away from Lewis Fox Middle School.


The magnitude and severity of this problem is alarming given that the consequences of underage drinking go beyond drinking and driving fatalities. There are 335 liquor licenses currently issued in the City Of Hartford, and 71 specifically in North-Hartford. The TIHPSY Coalition has made it their responsibility to combat underage drinking by requesting that the density of these liquor outlets be reduced in our City.


Youth Leaders Montie Johnson, Brittney Hall and Denisha Allen present on the Risk Factor: Retail Availability.






This Town Hall meeting represented a great opportunity for Hartford to share in the national leadership to address underage drinking. Much has been done to research and develop strategies to prevent and reduce underage drinking but much more needs to be done.

The main presenters were Hartford youth who have been implementing the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to address this issue. Thanks to a 3-year grant from the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), this has been made possible.