2005 News (Archive)
Supreme Court Decision Sends an Important Message
September 7, 2005
An Opinion-Editorial by W. Lee Catoe
Published in The State newspaper September 7, 2005
The S.C. Supreme Court took an important step toward improving the health and safety of our state this week with its unanimous decision that adults who knowingly serve alcohol to minors at parties can face lawsuits and damages if the underage drinkers harm themselves or others.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day
September 6, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed Friday, September 9, as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Awareness Day in South Carolina, encouraging all residents to work together to help ensure the brightest possible future for the children of the Palmetto State.
South Carolina Observes Addiction Recovery Month
August 31, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed September as Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in South Carolina. Throughout the month, communities statewide are asked to focus on the incorporation of community treatment and recovery services as an integral part of the public health system – and to continue these efforts beyond the month-long public awareness effort.
DAODAS Co-Sponsors 5K Road Race to Celebrate Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
August 26, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Faces and Voices of Recovery (SC FAVOR) will hold its first ”Dry Run” Road Race and Festival at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Sims Park in Columbia’s Shandon neighborhood (3500 Duncan Street).
Cabinet Agency Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Enhance Coordination of Adolescent Treatment
August 4, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) has received a federal Adolescent Treatment Coordination grant totaling nearly $1.2 million to build the state’s capacity to provide effective and affordable substance abuse treatment for youth and their families
Supreme Court Decision Sends an Important Message
September 7, 2005
An Opinion-Editorial by W. Lee Catoe
Published in The State newspaper September 7, 2005
The S.C. Supreme Court took an important step toward improving the health and safety of our state this week with its unanimous decision that adults who knowingly serve alcohol to minors at parties can face lawsuits and damages if the underage drinkers harm themselves or others.
When 19-year-old Justin Parks died behind the wheel of his Honda CRX in 2001, his blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.291% -- more than three times the BAC limit of .08% at which individuals are considered to be guilty of DUI in South Carolina. Orin Feagin was also 19 when he ignored the availability of a “designated driver,” drove while intoxicated, and was ultimately involved in a two-car accident that killed him and the passenger in the other vehicle. But age and the circumstances of their deaths were not the only things that Justin and Orin had in common: the alcohol consumption that led to their deaths occurred during private parties hosted by otherwise responsible adults. All too often, we forget the vital role that adults must play in helping young people deal with the temptations posed by alcohol, but the Supreme Court’s rulings will serve as a constant reminder by allowing civil as well as criminal penalties for those individuals whose transfer of alcohol to minors results in death or injury.
To understand the importance – and necessity – of the Court’s decisions, one must recognize a few basic facts. First, alcohol is the drug most frequently used by teenagers. It is consumed more frequently than all other illicit drugs combined and is the drug most likely to be associated with injury or death. In fact, in South Carolina, alcohol use is the major cause of loss of life for young people ages 15 to 24, accounting for 45 percent of their fatalities, most of which result from alcohol-related car crashes.
Second, underage drinking is a critical public health issue in our state, for research suggests that early use of alcohol by teenagers may contribute significantly to dependence on alcohol and other drugs later in life, with 40 percent of children who begin using alcohol before the age of 13 becoming alcoholics at some point in their lives.
Yet, there are those who would dismiss underage drinking as a "youthful indiscretion" – a rite of passage from adolescence into adulthood. In fact, many underage drinkers are often first presented with alcohol in their own homes.
But if alcohol use by minors is a rite of passage, it is a treacherous course – a passage for some young souls into a lifetime of broken promises, broken families, and broken lives. Alcohol is not a kid's drink, plain and simple. That's the reason teenage drinking is a violation of South Carolina’s minimum legal drinking age of 21.
Still, the problem of underage drinking is complex and can only be solved through a cooperative effort between parents, schools, community leaders and the children themselves, there are three areas that have proven to be effective in prevention of underage drinking: curtailing the availability of alcohol, consistent enforcement of existing laws and regulations, and changing norms and behaviors through education. At the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, we have chosen to focus on this third area as one of our five main goals for 2005, increasing the use of evidence-based prevention programming by our state’s county alcohol and drug abuse authorities in an attempt to enhance services to adolescents.
The Supreme Court has delivered a strong message that, as adults in South Carolina, we've got to do a far better job of persuading our young people that alcohol use is a dead end, that they are playing Russian roulette, not only with their own lives, but with the lives of friends, neighbors, and loved ones. If we won’t protect our children, who will?
Appointed by Governor Mark Sanford in January 2003, W. Lee Catoe is the director of the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), the state agency responsible for ensuring the availability and accessibility of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention, intervention and treatment services throughout South Carolina.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day
September 6, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed Friday, September 9, as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Awareness Day in South Carolina, encouraging all residents to work together to help ensure the brightest possible future for the children of the Palmetto State.
“FAS is the only type of mental retardation that is completely preventable and requires a multi-level approach, including community education programs and interventions, to protect the health of our unborn babies,” Governor Sanford stated in his proclamation.
"Early identification of alcohol problems among women of childbearing age offers a targeted strategy to prevent FAS, which is the most serious form of drug-related birth defects," said W. Lee Catoe, director of the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS). “Research indicates that something as simple as reading a self-help pamphlet may encourage women who aren't already abusing alcohol to cut down on their drinking. If we're able to arrest the disease of alcoholism sooner rather than later among women of childbearing age, we may have more success in getting this group to abstain from drinking entirely during their pregnancies."
FAS is caused by maternal alcoholism or heavy drinking during pregnancy. Each year, 4,000 to 12,000 babies are born with the physical signs and intellectual disabilities associated with FAS. Once a woman bears a child with FAS, there is a 70% probability that subsequent children will have FAS.
For more information on the dangers of alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy, a copy of a DAODAS brochure titled “A Special Delivery Should Be Handled With Care” can be downloaded at www.daodas.state.sc.us/web/infosite/readroom/babybrochure.html.
South Carolina Observes Addiction Recovery Month
August 31, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed September as Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in South Carolina. Throughout the month, communities statewide are asked to focus on the incorporation of community treatment and recovery services as an integral part of the public health system – and to continue these efforts beyond the month-long public awareness effort.
The theme of this year’s Recovery Month is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Healing Lives, Families and Communities.” South Carolina’s awareness effort is designed to coincide with the 16th annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.
“Just as drug and alcohol problems affect all areas of the community, so too does recovery depend on the cooperation and support of friends, neighbors, community leaders and healthcare professionals,” Governor Sanford stated in his proclamation.
“Recovery Month highlights the fact that alcohol and other drug addiction is a treatable disease and that treatment for this disease is as effective as treatments for other chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure,” said W. Lee Catoe, director of the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS). “Since the creation of our local treatment system almost three decades ago, more than 1 million South Carolinians have received direct intervention and treatment services to help them address their problems of addiction.”
Created by the passage of Act 301 of 1973, South Carolina’s community-based alcohol and other drug abuse system consists of 33 county authorities that provide direct services to citizens in all 46 counties of the state.
For more information about treatment services available in your area or local activities planned as part of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, contact your county alcohol and drug abuse authority or call 1-888-SCPREVENTS.
DAODAS Co-Sponsors 5K Road Race to Celebrate Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
August 26, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Faces and Voices of Recovery (SC FAVOR) will hold its first ”Dry Run” Road Race and Festival at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Sims Park in Columbia’s Shandon neighborhood (3500 Duncan Street).
SC FAVOR is a non-profit organization that supports recovery from addiction; works to broaden public awareness and understanding of addiction as a public health crisis; and advocates for increased opportunities for those seeking recovery. The event is co-sponsored by Palmetto Heath Behavioral Care, Three Rivers Behavioral Health, SC SHARE, the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), and LRADAC, The Behavioral Health Center of the Midlands.
The 5K certified course will be fast and flat through Shandon, and walkers are welcome. The course will begin at Sims Park, with the finish line provided by local retailer Strictly Running. Cash awards will be offered in the “Overall” and “Master’s” categories as follows: 1st Place - $100; 2nd Place - $75; and 3rd Place - $50.
Beginning at 9:00 a.m., the band Soul Finger will perform until the festival ends at noon. The race is anticipated to end at 10:00 a.m., with awards presented at 10:30 a.m. The festival will also feature speeches on recovery advocacy, exhibits, and inflatable attractions for kids!
The “DRY RUN” ROAD RACE AND FESTIVAL will be held:
WHEN: 9 a.m. to Noon on Saturday, September 10, 2005
(Race/walk registration is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.)
WHERE: Sims Park
3500 Duncan Street
Columbia, South Carolina
COST: Admission to the festival is free.
Race/walk registration is $20.
INFORMATION: Visit www.scfavor.org and click on “Events.”
DAODAS encourages community members to put on their running/walking shoes and help kick off September as Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month with this family-centered outdoor event!
Cabinet Agency Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Enhance Coordination of Adolescent Treatment
August 4, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) has received a federal Adolescent Treatment Coordination grant totaling nearly $1.2 million to build the state’s capacity to provide effective and affordable substance abuse treatment for youth and their families.
The $1,197,991 grant was announced yesterday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal agency that awarded the funds. South Carolina is one of 16 states that will share in more than $19 million to better coordinate adolescent substance abuse treatment. DAODAS will receive $399,391 in the first year and $399,300 for the second and third years.
“Identifying infrastructure needs and gaps in the delivery of services to adolescents was already one of this department’s ‘Five for 2005’ – our five main goals for this year,” said W. Lee Catoe, director of DAODAS. “In addition, adolescent services were included as a priority activity in Governor Mark Sanford’s Executive Budget Message for fiscal year 2006. This federal grant will help ensure that these precious state resources are used in the most efficient manner possible.”
The goals of the grant project – “Breaking Barriers, Building Dreams” – are to: 1) increase coordination and collaboration within the adolescent treatment system at the state and local levels; 2) close gaps and eliminate barriers that currently exist within the adolescent treatment system; 3) increase the use of standardized screening, assessment, referral and follow-up protocols among both public and private providers; 4) standardize and improve the capacity and skills of direct-service providers; and 5) enhance and expand the use of evidence-based practices for adolescent substance abuse treatment.
“Breaking Barriers, Building Dreams” will be a collaborative effort involving the Office of the Governor, DAODAS and the various state agencies that fund, license or provide adolescent substance abuse screening or treatment services.
DAODAS is the cabinet agency responsible for ensuring the availability and accessibility of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention, intervention and treatment services throughout South Carolina.