Reducing Youth Substance Abuse in Minnetonka School District Communities

Six years ago, community members in the Minnetonka School District decided reduce underage substance use. is a collaborative partnership of area agencies, law enforcement, parents, youth, faith communities and school representatives. Their collective mission: to encourage youth in communities such as Deephaven and Excelsior to make healthy choices and stay clean from illicit drugs and alcohol.

“We felt we needed to be at the table to discuss and provide input on the issues,” said, adding that all stakeholders working on reducing underage substance use should work together.

Work by the coalition over the years has focused on three key areas: policy, youth and parents. According to Coordinator Imogen Davis, one of the key accomplishments in the policy area was the passing of a Social Host Ordinance in Minnetonka. The ordinance gives cities a way to “close a loophole,” Davis explained. The basic purpose behind the ordinance is to discourage underage consumption of alcoholic beverages and to hold adults accountable for hosting underage drinkers. Davis anticipates a similar concept might be brought to other cities within the Minnetonka School District.

Initiatives geared at parents and students have been launched throughout the years as well, including parent education programs led by speakers such as author Joseph Califano, who will be here April 12 to discuss his new book, “How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents.” Tonka CARES also recently launched its new “Reveal what’s Real,” campaign geared to students at Minnetonka High School about the misconceptions of underage drinking.

Members of the Tonka CARES partnership also provide parents with information give suggestions for curfew rules and reporting underage drinking parties.  

Partnerships built with community groups and law enforcement agencies can be “tremendously valuable,” according to Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Lisa Kiava.

“Partnerships between different organizations help reinforce the message to young people and families about the problems associated with drug use and underage drinking, as well to help share resources during tight budget time,” she said.  “A deputy sharing his perspective on underage drinking will have a different perspective than someone in the substance abuse field. All are important and effective in their own way.”

The Tonka CARES program is federally funded by the Drug-Free Communities grant program, geared to “developing local responses to underage drug use.”