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Public
health and safety conditions along the 2,000-mile
U.S.-Mexico border demonstrate many of the challenges
and opportunities that the two nations have in common. Substance abuse is one example of a mutual concern felt
not just by individuals in separate jurisdictions, but
by communities living in interconnected environments.
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Alcohol,
tobacco and other drug (ATOD) problems do vary
as a function of local laws, customs and resources. But
their causes and solutions reach across borders,
languages and cultures.
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| Consequences
of ATOD use diminish the quality of life for residents
on both sides of the border. Logically, efforts to
improve and sustain health and safety in the region
should involve a bilateral strategy. The Binational Policy
Council (BPC) was created to implement such a strategy as part
of a |
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| long-term process, advocating for collaboration and
community change in order to prevent substance abuse in
the region. |
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| The BPC’s
organizational roots go back to the late 1990s, when an
initiative called the
San Diego-Tijuana Border Project aimed to
generate collaborative
solutions to cross-border alcohol and drug
problems. |
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| Operated
by the nonprofit Institute for Public Strategies,
the Border Project greatly enhanced |
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| the local capacity
to prevent the problems caused by cross-border ATOD use. |
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It combined data, well-coordinated
law enforcement and a strategic media advocacy campaign
to reduce public intoxication and driving under the
influence at the busiest border crossing in the world.
In 2001 the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration formally acknowledged the Border
Project’s efficacy, granting it a coveted Model
Program
status. |
| Based on
that successful effort in San Diego-Tijuana, the
Binational Policy Council applies an environmental
prevention approach along the entire U.S.-Mexico
border to establish complementary policy solutions to
ATOD problems. |
| BPC
members hail from the four U.S. states and six
Mexican states that constitute the border region. They
can be found in towns and cities from San Ysidro,
California, to Brownsville, Texas, representing a wide
variety of disciplines and community sectors. Though
some are not directly associated with ATOD prevention or
border affairs, all understand the value of the
environmental prevention model in improving quality of
life in their communities. |
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