Drug Free Julian is a community coalition in the small rural town of Julian located in the mountains about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, California. The group brings together a broad range of representatives from the community including: business owners, healthcare professionals, youth, media, teachers, religious leaders, school administrators, volunteer groups, parents, law enforcement,
and others to work in partnership to reduce problems associated with substance abuse. Our coalition is currently supported by a Drug Free Communities program grant, giving us a five to ten-year opportunity to use evidence-based, data-driven environmental strategies to promote real sustainable change in our community. Environmental strategies are based on the idea that substance abuse is a result of multiple conditions and circumstances. Individuals do not engage in substance abuse solely on the basis of personal characteristics, but rather as a result of a complex set of factors in the environment. These include: the rules and regulations of the social institutions to which people belong, the norms of the community in which they live, the mass media messages to which they are exposed, and the accessibility of alcohol, ma*****na, prescription drugs, and other illicit drugs.
