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| The Binational Policy Council (BPC)
works to reduce the
destructive impact of alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs in the U.S.-Mexico border region. It's
members, both individuals and organizations,
work together to find and promote solutions
that measurably improve the quality of life
for those living near the international
frontier. The BPC employs a field-tested
"environmental prevention" strategy
to create long-term community change. |
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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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| For
more information about the Binational Policy Council, visit
the bilingual web site @ http://www.binationalpolicycouncil.org
(Note: the web site is currently under
development). |
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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. 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 Border Policy Council was created to implement
such a strategy as part of a long-term
process, advocating for collaboration and community change in
order to prevent substance abuse in the region. |
| The BPC’s
organizational roots go back to the late 1990s, when the
San
Diego-Tijuana Border Project aimed to generate collaborative
solutions to cross-border alcohol and drug problems. Based on that successful
effort in San Diego-Tijuana, the Binational Policy Council applies an environmental
prevention |
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| approach along the entire U.S.-Mexico border to establish
complementary policy solutions to ATOD problems. |
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| 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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