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PDAP Wants Midlanders to Star in Underage Drinking Public Service Announcement

A Midland group is cracking down on underage drinking, and they're tackling the issue in a new public service announcement.
By Cierra Putman
NewsWest 9

MIDLAND - A Midland group is cracking down on underage drinking, and they're tackling the issue in a new public service announcement or PSA.

This one will feature people from right here in the Permian Basin.

"(We want to) try to kind of put a local face on it and I think that's a good thing," PDAP Coalition Director, Dale Seago, said. "That way you're not seeing somebody from somewhere else, you're seeing people from this community who've been affected and there are a lot of them."

The Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP) and the Midland Coalition wants to showcase Midlanders in a PSA against underage drinking.

"I think when you see regular people involved who are standing up for this and have been affected and are trying to change it," Seago said. "I think it's more affective than just seeing an actor that's playing a role."

Retired police officer Dale Seago works with PDAP and he says they're bringing in a film crew to shoot the PSA. So, it's ready by the start of the next school year.

In the meantime, the group will incorporate local stats in a current PSA.

"We know that this is an important issue because we do surveys in our schools and in the community," PDAP Community Programs Director, Brent Blackburn, said. "Those surveys indicate that 35 percent of the young people here in this area are drinking. So we need to find a way to stop that and prevent that."

Seago has spent years fighting this issue. But with police stings still busting businesses selling to minors and nearly 140 under age drinking related arrests in the area just last year - he knows there's a long way to go. But he's optimistic.

"We're in the education and prevention side and we're trying to put the recovery side out of business," Seago said. "So people don't make these choices and get in these situations."

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