3.3.1.2 Recent Key Local Events

At the time of baseline data collection in the 12 target and 12 comparison sites, a variety of key events were occurring or had recently taken place in the local areas. These events were described by local informants as occurrences that had likely influenced youth's and community members' awareness or attitudes about alcohol or drug use.

At some sites, informants spoke about policy changes at the community level or at the State level that had created significant attention (e.g., a task force formed by the Governor's Office to reduce the supply of marijuana by prosecuting growers of cannabis and destroying their crops). The passage of Proposition 215 in California, which legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, sent a mixed message about the dangers of using marijuana to many youth in San Diego. The same was true for youth in Tucson, where marijuana also was legalized for medicinal use.

Target sites such as Atlanta, Portland, San Diego, and Tucson (and also some of the comparison sites) recently experienced deaths of local youth involved in alcohol-related accidents or drug-related deaths, frequently from heroin overdoses. Such events were perceived to have raised fear and concern among youth, increasing their awareness of the potential dangers of using drugs and alcohol and helping them to understand that they are not invincible.

Other kinds of local events that attracted significant notice from community residents, including youth, were those that could be classified as "sensational," usually involving some type of crime. In one site in a western state, a chain of murders of drug-using prostitutes created significant attention in the news. In a middle class neighborhood in San Diego, a student dropped LSD into a teacher's coffee mug, creating major reaction among members of the community.

At another site, a teenager living in a rural county dumped the body of his best friend (who had died of a heroin overdose) at a local Boy Scout camp to avoid being identified as part of a heroin distribution ring. Informants in another site described a city youth who, apparently while under the influence of drugs, went to a party in the suburbs and shot and killed other youth attending the party.

Drug arrests were mentioned frequently at many of the target and comparison sites. A drug arrest involving a family drug network was reported in one of the sites, and several members of a major methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution organization in a Southwestern site were arrested following one of the largest drug investigations in the United States.

Other less sensational events occurring at the local levels generally were intended to eradicate drugs. For example, key informants at one of the sites reported that tearing down a well-known "Joe Camel" billboard (which advertised Camel cigarettes) attracted significant attention and discussion in the community. In Atlanta an attempt was made to eliminate the drug and violence problems by tearing down public housing to make room for new tenants who would pay higher rents. The hope was that this effort would remove former residents who were dealing and using drugs.

An event that may have encouraged or promoted drug use was an annual "Country Fair" at one of the western sites. Marijuana was reportedly used openly and without retribution at the fair. This was cited as a local cultural event that brought visitors from around the country and influenced youth's attitudes toward using drugs.