North Dakota State University invites community members to attend a Town Hall Meeting on Monday, Oct. 11, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the NDSU Alumni Center to discuss the issue of high-risk drinking with fellow community stakeholders, campus leaders and elected officials. The facilitated discussion will include an overview of the problems associated with high-risk drinking in North Dakota and discussion of possible solutions to curb this problem.

            NDSU is in the second year of implementation of a three-year “Strategic Plan to Address High Risk Drinking.”

            Gene Taylor, chair of the President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said, “The issues and problems associated with high-risking drinking have lasting effects on our campus, community and state. This meeting will bring all community stakeholders together to share ideas on how to continue to partner with us in addressing the problems associated with high-risk drinking.”

            The meeting is sponsored by NDSU with funding provided by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Town Hall meetings have been held in every state in the country. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Town Hall meetings have “helped to identify strategies for addressing the problem at the community level.”

            Target audiences include parents, teachers, elected officials, youth and college students. Taylor said, “Anyone interested in being a part of a community solution to address high risk alcohol and drug use is invited.”