Senate Bill sb2512
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Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) SR 2512
By Senator Jones
40-1444A-02
1 Senate Resolution No. ____
2 A resolution expressing the concern of the
3 Florida Senate that one of the least understood
4 and riskiest, most lethal, and crime-inducing
5 settings for teenage alcohol and drug use, and
6 possibly related youth violence, is the motor
7 vehicle.
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9 WHEREAS, teenagers with their ready access to motor
10 vehicles have become increasingly mobile, adding a fluid
11 dynamic to the manner in which teenagers use alcohol and
12 illegal drugs, and
13 WHEREAS, alcohol and drug abuse by teenagers has not
14 significantly declined in the past several years and remains
15 unacceptably high, possibly, for certain groups, increasing in
16 incidence and shifting to riskier settings, and
17 WHEREAS, 2,238 fifteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals
18 were killed in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 1999
19 across America, including 114 in Florida, and
20 WHEREAS, the Aluminum Anonymous Project surveyed 575
21 miles of Florida roadside from Marianna to Tallahassee to Live
22 Oak to Gainesville to Tavares to Eustis to Palatka to
23 Jacksonville to the Georgia State Line in November, 1998, for
24 the discard rate of alcohol beverage containers, finding an
25 average of 1,150 beer cans or beer bottles per mile of road
26 annually, and followed up with 45 interviews of professionals
27 working with teens and adults in alcohol and drug settings,
28 who collectively estimated that 50 percent of the discarded
29 alcohol containers were coming from teenagers, and
30 WHEREAS, state legislatures in New Mexico, Montana,
31 Rhode Island, and South Dakota have passed similar resolutions
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Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) SR 2512
40-1444A-02
1 in 2001 and 2002 and, in several other states, legislators
2 have introduced--or plan to introduce such resolutions for the
3 2002 session, and
4 WHEREAS, the January 2001 report of the National Center
5 on Substance Abuse and Addiction states that only 4 percent of
6 the $3,152 million that Florida spends annually on substance
7 abuse problems is used for prevention and treatment, while the
8 remaining 96 percent goes for cleaning up the wreckage caused
9 by substance abuse and addiction, and
10 WHEREAS, the January 2001 "Report of the United States
11 Surgeon General on Youth Violence," notes that although youth
12 violence may have peaked, it will remain a major problem, NOW,
13 THEREFORE,
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15 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
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17 That the Department of Health, in corporation with the
18 Departments of Transportation and Education, shall study the
19 problem of teenage in-vehicle drinking and related drug use by
20 assembling and determining what is known and not known about
21 this behavior; its causes, prevalence and incidence; assessing
22 the effectiveness of present policies, programs and evaluation
23 techniques; and gauging the adequacy of interagency
24 collaboration, including data sharing, program development,
25 and cross-training, etc., in meeting the challenges of this
26 problem.
27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the departments report to
28 the Legislature, if necessary, with a recommended plan of
29 action, encompassing policy and programs, which would more
30 comprehensively incorporate teenage in-vehicle drinking and
31 related drug use into the scope of Florida's substance abuse
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Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) SR 2512
40-1444A-02
1 and youth violence prevention strategies. Such a report should
2 concentrate on ways of modifying and reforming present
3 policies and programs rather than creating new programs.
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