The alcohol and cannabis retail environments can change rapidly and pose challenges in community health. Assessing your community is critical in identifying potential issues contributing to underage or excessive alcohol and cannabis use. Completing a comprehensive assessment involves utilizing many tools and methods. Environmental scanning allows you to observe and document how these issues present themselves in your community, including through advertising. In this webinar, the APRC and CRPC will share their Environmental Scan Toolkits, and why the point-of-sale matters for alcohol and cannabis in your communities.
Jody Heavilin is the Alcohol Policy Resource Center Administrator at Prevention First. She has over 30 years of experience in substance use prevention, intervention, and treatment. She led a county-wide coalition through the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), resulting in a 64% reduction in 12th graders who self-reported drinking and driving. Jody worked as a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for Prevention First before transitioning to the Alcohol Policy Resource Center, serving as the Administrator since 2019. Jody’s expertise includes the SPF, coalition capacity building, alcohol policy, data analysis, and environmental prevention strategies. She received two Illinois MADD Hero of the Year Awards (2011, 2014) and the 2022 Illinois Prevention Leadership Award. Jody earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Eureka College in 1990.
Jake Levinson is the Senior Administrator of Prevention First’s Cannabis Policy Resource Center, working to assist municipalities, coalitions, and law enforcement in using cannabis policy as a prevention tool. Beginning in prevention in 2010, Jake’s areas of interest and expertise include prevention policy, planning and implementing youth prevention education; school-based communication campaigns; coordinating community coalitions; engaging stakeholders in community assessment and data analysis; and grants management.