Count ME In!
No matter who you are, there’s something you can do to prevent underage drinking:

Parents:
•	Educate yourself, your children, and others about the risks of underage drinking, and set clear and consistent expectations about not using alcohol before age 21
•	Use the monitoring tips at www.maineparents.net – whenever possible, start these habits well before your children reach their teenage years 
•	Be careful about the messages you send about alcohol – use the modeling tips at www.maineparents.net

Youth:
•	Take a stand and feel comfortable refusing alcohol, don’t give in to peer pressure
•	Be a good role model for younger siblings and others who look up to you
•	Get involved in community efforts to reduce underage drinking – be part of the solution

Pediatricians and Other Health Care Providers:
•	Educate your patients and their parents about the dangers of underage drinking
•	Include screening for alcohol and other drug use in your standard practice when seeing teenagers
•	Provide information to parents about prevention strategies, including the monitoring and modeling tips at www.maineparents.net

Schools:
•	Implement evidence-based prevention substance abuse programs to educate students and parents 
•	Identify and refer students using alcohol for appropriate interventions
•	Consistently and fairly enforce school substance abuse policies 

Law Enforcement:
•	Adopt and implement a clear departmental underage drinking enforcement policy, like the Maine Chiefs of Police/OSA model policy at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/osa/prevention/lawenforcement
•	Aggressively investigate and prosecute adults who provide or sell alcohol to minors 
•	Partner with others in your community to ensure a comprehensive multi-faceted approach to underage drinking prevention that does not rely on enforcement alone to solve the problem

Alcohol Retailers:
•	Set a goal of zero sales to minors and then establish effective management practices to achieve it  
•	Sign on to the Youth Empowerment and Policy Group’s “Alcohol Retailer’s Local Marketing Code of Conduct” (http://www.neias.org/YEP/docs06.html) 
•	Participate in Project Sticker Shock to educate adults who buy alcohol about the furnishing laws (http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/osa/prevention/youth/sticker.htm) 

Other Community Members:
•	Join a local coalition that is working on underage drinking prevention (http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/osa/prevention/communitycontacts.htm) 
•	Offer public support for prevention and enforcement efforts; thank retailers who do a good job 
•	Watch the messages you send to young people you interact with – the modeling tips for parents at www.maineparents.net apply to all adults who talk about alcohol whenever kids may be listening!