Four Angelina County Drug-Free All Stars recently attended Advocacy Day in Austin, an event hosted by Texans Standing Tall, the statewide coalition focused on tobacco and alcohol prevention for youth. The four youth in attendance were Kellen Kruk, Pineywoods Community Academy; Alison Acevedo, Hudson High School; Natalie Goodwin, Diboll High School; and Alex Sanchez, Diboll High School. In the morning, the students received training on different topics, including: tobacco 21, powdered alcohol, and alcohol excise tax. During the training, Texans Standing Tall worked with the youth on how to talk to their elected officials regarding these topics and helped them role-play different scenarios. In the afternoon, the four All Stars went to the Texas Capitol and met with Senator Robert Nichols, Representative Trent Ashby, and Representative James White. During the meetings, the students shared what they learned about powdered alcohol, tobacco 21, and alcohol excise tax and talked with the representatives about ways to prevent youth tobacco and alcohol use in our community. Thank you to Senator Nichols, Representative Ashby, and Representative White for taking the time to meet with the Drug-Free All Stars and listening to the problems that youth in our community face regarding tobacco and alcohol.
Since 1988, The Coalition has focused on eliminating the use of harmful substances by affecting public policy, laws, attitudes and behaviors, all in an effort to foster healthy life-long choices for the local community. For more information on tobacco 21, visit www.texas21.org and for information about the Drug-Free All Stars, contact Abby Baker at The Coalition at 936-634-9308.
