{"id":19134,"date":"2025-05-11T16:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T15:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=19134"},"modified":"2025-08-10T16:59:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T15:59:59","slug":"kelly-tillis-coons-introduce-legislation-to-address-youth-drug-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/05\/kelly-tillis-coons-introduce-legislation-to-address-youth-drug-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelly, Tillis, Coons Introduce Legislation to Address Youth Drug Use"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced bipartisan legislation to fund public service announcement (PSA) campaigns and contests to help young Americans understand the dangers of drug use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act<\/em><\/a>\u00a0would expand the Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Justice Assistance Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) for research-based PSAs launched by state and local governments to help youth in their local communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs drug addiction continues to destroy the lives of young people and their families in red and blue states alike, we need to address the problem in ways that speak directly to teens,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Kelly<\/strong>. \u201cArizona has already taken the lead in promoting PSA campaigns against substance use, and this bill will help my state and other states reach more people about the dangers of drug use and save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must do everything we can to make young adults aware of the dangers of substance abuse,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Tillis<\/strong>. \u201cI am proud to co-lead this bipartisan legislation with Senator Kelly to expand COSSUP so we can coordinate with states and local entities to conduct public service announcements and spread awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many young Americans know firsthand the harms of opioid addiction and deserve every opportunity to be leaders in combatting this crisis in their communities,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Coons.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThis bill will give them the resources and opportunity to use what they know to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act<\/em>\u00a0is supported by Arizona Attorney General Mayes, Partnership to End Addiction, Drug Policy Alliance, Addiction Policy Forum,\u00a0Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America\u00a0(CADCA), the National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction (NACoA), the Brent Shapiro Foundation, the Alexander Neville Foundation, National Crime Prevention Council, MATFORCE, the Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona (SACLAz), and Gang Free North Carolina.<\/p>\n

See what Arizona stakeholders are saying about the\u00a0Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Cartels are even targeting Arizona teenagers on social media, leading to overdoses in children as young as 14 years old. Our Fentanyl PSA contest has been one of the most successful ways my office has engaged the next generation of Arizonans in the fight against the fentanyl crisis, and we\u2019ve made inroads toward making sure every young person in Arizona knows how to protect themselves and their friends from fentanyl,\u201d\u00a0said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes<\/strong>. \u201cThank you, Senator Kelly, for putting this bill forward and creating new federally-funded opportunities for other local law enforcement and government offices to offer PSAs like the one we\u2019ve seen such success with. We need every tool in our tool belt as we continue to fight the scourge of fentanyl in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch consistently demonstrates that early use of addictive substances heightens the risk of addiction later in life, with the likelihood increasing the earlier use begins. Preventing and delaying substance use among young people is essential to ending our nation\u2019s addiction crisis. The most effective prevention takes a comprehensive approach, addressing the diverse factors that influence youth substance use while meeting the unique needs of individual communities. Public awareness campaigns, guided by research and regularly evaluated to ensure effectiveness, play a vital role in this holistic and evidence-based approach. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act will help communities use federal funding to prevent youth substance use by including research-based public service awareness campaigns in their prevention strategies,\u201d\u00a0Linda Richter, PhD, Senior Vice President of Prevention Research and Analysis, Partnership to End Addiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Alexander Neville Foundation, we\u2019re dedicated to helping young people and their caregivers understand the serious dangers of substance misuse, especially fentanyl and social media harms. Our goal is to raise awareness and offer the support necessary for young individuals to make informed, healthy choices. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is a perfect match for our mission, as it boosts public service announcement campaigns designed to prevent substance misuse among youth. This important legislation plays a key role in tackling the fentanyl crisis and substance misuse, ensuring that young people receive the right education at the right time. By supporting evidence-based prevention programs, we\u2019re working toward a safer, healthier future, one where young people can thrive both online and offline, free from the dangers of substance use,\u201d\u00a0said the Alexander Neville Foundation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen NACoA was founded in 1983, schools had counselors and student assistance programs equipped to support children impacted by the disease of addiction \u2014 that is no longer the norm. Today, 1 in 5 children in the U.S. live in a household where a parent has a substance use disorder (American Academy of Pediatrics). The National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction (NACoA) supports this vital legislation, because locally driven, peer-centered education can break the intergenerational cycle of this chronic, progressive and fatal disease. Every dollar invested in prevention can save up to $18 in future costs (SAMSHA) \u2014 and it\u2019s always easier to help a child than to heal a broken adult,\u201d\u00a0said President\/CEO NACoA Denise Bertin-Epp RN, BScN, MSA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is a positive step towards stopping youth drug and alcohol use before it starts.\u00a0 Nine of 10 individuals who develop a drug addiction began using drugs as teenagers, our nation needs to make the protection of our children and their developing brains a top priority. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act will provide youth with the information necessary to help them make healthy choices. This legislation can save lives.\u00a0 The Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona support this legislation,\u201d\u00a0said Merilee Fowler, Executive Director, MATFORCE, Community Counts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) was developed as part of the\u00a0Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act<\/em>\u00a0(CARA) of 2016. COSSUP\u2019s purpose is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, implement, or expand comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants and other drugs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.kelly.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/kelly-tillis-coons-introduce-legislation-to-address-youth-drug-use\/<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Kelly, Arizona Senator, USA – May 6, 2025 Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced bipartisan legislation to fund public service announcement (PSA) campaigns and contests to help young Americans understand the dangers of drug use.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act\u00a0would expand the Department of Justice\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,104,19,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-political-sector","category-usa","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}