PRINTER'S NO. 1807
No. 131 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY IRVIS, SWEET AND MOWERY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1983
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, SEPTEMBER 27, 1983
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging all Pennsylvanians to become involved in the Statewide
2 and Nationwide Chemical People Project to combat school-age
3 drug and alcohol abuse.
4 WHEREAS, On November 2 and 9, 1983, the seven-member stations
5 of the Pennsylvania Public Television Network and public
6 television stations nationwide, will broadcast two Chemical
7 People programs, one focusing on the devastating effects of
8 school-age drug and alcohol abuse, the other offering hope and
9 guidance; and
10 WHEREAS, Communities across the State are working with public
11 television stations to organize local town meetings around the
12 Chemical People programming and to establish task forces to
13 educate and motivate people against substance abuse, under the
14 leadership of Governor and Mrs. Thornburgh and House Speaker and
15 Mrs. K. Leroy Irvis, State chairpersons; Secretary of Education,
16 Robert C. Wilburn, State Coordinator and associate coordinators,
17 Luceille Fleming, Deputy Secretary of Health for Drug and
18 Alcohol Problems and H. Sheldon Parker, Jr., General Manager of
1 the Pennsylvania Public Television Network; and
2 WHEREAS, More than 26 national and Statewide organizations
3 are actively involved in community outreach to organize Chemical
4 People town meetings and task forces to combat local school-age
5 drug and alcohol abuse; and
6 WHEREAS, School-age drug and alcohol abuse is epidemic,
7 cutting across all socio-economic levels and affecting
8 youngsters throughout the State and Nation in cities, ghettos,
9 suburbs and rural areas; and
10 WHEREAS, Results of a nine-year study by the National
11 Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan's
12 Institute of Social Research reveal that roughly two-thirds of
13 all Americans try illicit drugs before they finish high school,
14 one in 16 high school seniors smokes marijuana on a daily basis,
15 about one in 16 drinks alcoholic beverages daily and many start
16 chemical use between the ages of 11 and 14; and
17 WHEREAS, The single leading cause of death among 15 through
18 24 year olds is drunk driving; and
19 WHEREAS, When the Chemical People Project was piloted in
20 Pittsburgh last year by public television station WQED and the
21 Coalition for Addictive Diseases in southwest Pennsylvania,
22 12,000 people attended 85 town meetings and 114 community task
23 forces were formed which are still operating today; therefore be
24 it
25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
26 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge all Pennsylvanians to watch
27 the Chemical People broadcasts on November 2 and 9 and take an
28 active part in town meetings and task forces formed to educate
29 people and motivate them to combat school-age drug and alcohol
30 abuse in their local community.
I26L82RLC/19830H0131R1807 - 2 -