Media Room
For questions regarding photos or press releases about Casco Bay CAN please contact:
Beth Blakeman-Pohl
207-869-1008
Logo
For a high resolution image of logo click the logo above. Any other Logo needs can be requested via email.
Casco Bay CAN Coalition Facts
Casco Bay Create Awareness Now (CAN) Coalition is a group of local individuals, schools, law enforcement agencies, organizations, and businesses who work together to prevent and reduce youth substance abuse in Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport, North Yarmouth, Pownal and Yarmouth.
Coalition members secured $125,000 annually in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to implement a Drug-Free Communities program to directly impact the communities served for the next five years. The project is sponsored by the Cumberland County Government.
Coalition members are leaders in various sectors of the communities it serves including but not limited to: businesses, media, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement, parents, youth, religious or fraternal organizations, civic or volunteer groups, healthcare professionals, state or local government, and other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse.
The Coalition is different than many other organizations that address youth substance use / abuse because it partners with adults that influence our youth, providing tools and resources that adults can then use to help prevent youth substance use / abuse.
Members work to reinforce the positive messages adults can give about avoiding alcohol, marijuana and other drugs to youth. They do this by focusing on community-level changes of rules and regulations, media messaging, accessibility and providing links to community, statewide and national resources and information.
Together, we CAN prevent youth substance abuse.
Mission
Mobilize citizen involvement and multi-sector collaboration to foster a healthy community environment with norms, policies, and practices that work together to promote positive, drug and alcohol-free development for all Casco Bay youth.
How We Address Underage Drinking and Youth Substance abuse
Casco Bay CAN works toward healthy and safe communities by building the capacity of the community, which must be broad based, participatory and unified in a common vision. We work to identify and reduce community conditions that elevate the risk of youth substance abuse and build alternative environments that promote safe and drug free communities for all.
Our environmental substance abuse prevention strategies seek to identify and reduce the conditions in a community that increase the risk of youth substance abuse and we help identify and promote those conditions that reduce the risk of abuse.