Governor McCrory Marks Talk It Out NC's First Anniversary With Call To Action | Eastern North Carolina Now

 Raleigh, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory commemorated Talk It Out NC's first anniversary today by calling for action to continue the fight against underage drinking. Talk It Out NC is a campaign formed by the ABC Commission to address underage drinking.

 "I commend Jim Gardner and the ABC Commission for approaching the underage drinking issue strategically on three fronts — through awareness with the Talk It Out campaign, through enforcement, and through training," ​Governor McCrory said. "We're going to get tougher on underage drinking. We've got to tackle this issue at the kitchen table and at the point of sale by making parents and those who serve alcohol aware of the dangers and consequences of underage drinking."


 Governor McCrory was joined at the announcement by ABC Commission Chairman Jim Gardner; Dr. Wilkie (Bill) Wilson, Director of DukeLEARN at Duke University; and Kelly Langston, President of NCPTA.

 Governor McCrory requested a report on the impact of alcohol on the adolescent brain from researchers from within the UNC system, Duke, Wake Forest and others. The researchers will present their report to the governor, the ABC Commission, and the Governor's Substance Use and Underage Drinking Prevention & Treatment Task Force by the end of January 2016.

 Governor McCrory also issued a call to action to all parents in North Carolina to take advantage of the holiday season, when alcohol and underage drinking are more prevalent, to talk to their children about the harmful effects of underage drinking.

 "Part of our responsibility as a state is to make sure that parents and others concerned with underage drinking have access to this wealth of knowledge," Governor McCrory said. "Through the research we will get from our universities and through the Talk It Out campaign, we can make sure we are doing everything possible to stop underage drinking."

 Along with Talk It Out NC, two task forces created by Governor McCrory have made progress towards reducing underage drinking and substance abuse: the Governor's Substance Use and Underage Drinking Prevention & Treatment Task Force, chaired by ABC Commission Chairman Jim Gardner and Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry; and the Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force, which informs citizens about the harms of addiction.

 To learn more about Talk It Out NC, visit http://www.talkitoutnc.org/.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•  govpress@nc.gov