Tempe Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking and Drug Use emerged from a long history of groups working to address issues surrounding substance misuse by providing advocacy, education, and outreach to the Tempe community and surrounding areas within our school district boundaries. This work started in 1996 and evolved into the creation of the Tempe Coalition in 2009. The Coalition is a grant funded project of Tempe Community Council and is currently funded by Federal and State grants. The Coalition is comprised of residents and professionals who live and work in the community and strive to collectively improve the City of Tempe by advocating for the reduction of risk behaviors among our youth.

The Coalition membership has a diverse representation of community members representing various sectors to include business, media, law enforcement, schools, substance use providers, youth, parents, youth-serving organizations, civic groups, healthcare professionals, governmental agencies, and faith-based organizations.

Additional grant funding has allowed the Tempe Coalition to target the opioid epidemic and has since created a robust campaign called “ShatterStigmaAZ” that has assisted in bringing awareness to the fact that opioids do not discriminate. The Coalition also provides many primary prevention supports to serve our local schools, businesses and community stakeholders with presentations, education and outreach.

Over the years, the Tempe Coalition has maintained committees to do specific work based on the community’s needs. The Coalition initiatives include: “21 or Too Young” that targets alcohol abuse, “Support Your Kids’ Interest So Marijuana Won’t Be One of Them”, and the Social Host Ordinance. We have various presentation topics available to include: The Rise in Fentanyl/Opioids, Marijuana, Vaping, Alcohol, ACES, and Internet Safety. The Tempe Coalition also provides Narcan training and is an authorized Narcan distributor.