BY BRIANNA LIESTMAN

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ( PLCB ) has published a biannual report on underage and high-risk drinking since 2006 , which identifies current levels and trends in underage and college drinking . The data collected allows the PLCB to detail prevention strategies and efforts by state and local organizations , identify alcohol-related challenges that public health partners will face in the future and tailor its educational offerings based upon this information .

One area in which this use of data is most prevalent is in the PLCB ’ s Control Tonight program . The television and radio advertising campaign , originally targeted at college-aged students to inform them of the risks of dangerous and underage drinking , will be phased out to make way for a new campaign that will target younger age groups .

“ Control Tonight was certainly a great campaign for us for a number of years , but as the life cycle of campaigns is five or six years , we ’ ve reached the end of the life cycle and have discovered new information that has informed a slightly different approach ,” says Elizabeth Brassell , director of communications .

In the PLCB ’ s most recent annual report , the Pennsylvania Youth Survey identified that exposure and experimentation with alcohol is starting as young as six to ten years old .

“ Later this year ( December 2017 and early 2018 ) we ’ ll be launching a completely new advertising campaign , and it ’ s really focused on parents of younger children to start these conversations younger and to be aware that exposure and experimentation is starting younger and younger ,” Brassell says .

Another strategy targeting youth that the agency employs is its annual poster contest , which held its 25th annual event earlier this year . PLCB reaches out to local schools and home-school contacts to build alcohol awareness into the school curriculum and encourage students to develop artwork that discusses positive alternatives to drinking .

The board holds an award ceremony in the Pennsylvania state museum and invites winners and their parents , and the art is used to create collateral such as a 12-month calendar , bookmarks , coloring sheets and more . Last year , the PLCB received 750 submissions from 38 counties and awarded 52 students . This year ’ s window for entries is currently open .

The agency also engages college students through its Resident Assistant Training Program , which won StateWays ’ s Best Responsible Consumption Program award in Dec . 2015 . First developed in 2014 by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Alcohol Education as a pilot program with six schools , alcohol education specialists visit college campuses and tailor RA training sessions to the college or university and its unique community .

The one-hour sessions address issues such as adolescent brain development ; decision-making and impulse control ; criminal , academic , social , healthy and safety consequences of underage drinking ; alcohol content of drinks ; how many drinks it takes to reach different blood alcohol levels ; signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning ; and Pennsylvania ’ s medical amnesty law . The law provides legal protection to anyone under 21 who has been drinking and contacts authorities to seek attention or help for someone in danger of suffering alcohol poisoning .

“ It ’ s definitely grown where we ’ re getting more interest from more universities ,” Brassell says . “ We ’ re doing repeat training now . Those who we started with in 2014 , we ’ re going back now on almost an annual or even twice-a-year basis , and we ’ ve added more and more colleges and universities to the program .”

PLCB provides community educational support with its two-day annual alcohol education conference and its grants for reducing underage and dangerous drinking . The confer-

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