AMA Alliance Home Page: http://www.amaalliance.org

AMAA Bookstore: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2160.html

Dear Alliance Member,
The Alliance is pleased to announce a joint project with The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a nonprofit organization that unites parents, renowned scientists and communications professionals to help families raise healthy children. Best known for its research-based national public education programs, the Partnership motivates and equips parents to prevent their children from using drugs and alcohol, and to find help and treatment for family and friends in trouble.

The Partnership has created excellent new interactive tools for parents: Time To Talk and Time To Act. Both these online resources translate the latest science and research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into easy to understand resources for parents and caregivers. We urge you to check out both resources:

• Time To Talk provides easy-to-use guides and tips to help parents have ongoing conversations with their kids to keep them healthy and drug-free. Research shows that kids who learn a lot about the risks of drugs from their parents are up to 50% less likely to use than those who do not.

* Time To Act is the first of its kind online help resource for parents and caregivers who suspect or know their child is experimenting, using or has a problem with alcohol or drugs. This comprehensive resource offers step-by -step, compassionate advice from substance abuse experts, family therapists and fellow parents to help parents understand drug and alcohol use, confront a child, set boundaries and seek outside help. Until now, there has been no comprehensive resource parents could turn to for guidance.

We encourage you to visit Time To Talk or Time To Act and sign up for free access to the Partnership's tools and monthly e-alerts today. We encourage you to tell your fellow members, friends and family about these helpful resources from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

To learn more about the Alliance's joint projects with the Partnership, and how to get involved in your state and community, please contact Rosetta Gervasi, Alliance Director of Communications at rosetta.gervasi@ama-assn.org.

Sandi Frost
President
American Medical Association Alliance

March 9-11, 2009: AMA Alliance Leadership Development Conference II - Winter Session/Capitol Conference/AMA National Advocacy Conference

Want to learn how to talk to your legislator before attending the Alliance Capitol Conference? Check out the AMA's manual, A Guide to Communicating with Members of Congress also available on the Alliance Capitol Conference page, your one-stop shop for everything conference-related.

June 14-16, 2009: AMA Alliance Annual Meeting

October 4-6, 2009: Leadership Development Conference I - Fall Session

March, 2010: AMA Alliance Leadership Development Conference II - Winter Session/Capitol Conference/AMA National Advocacy Conference

June 13-15, 2010: AMA Alliance Annual Meeting

September 26-28, 2010: Leadership Development Conference I - Fall Session

Does your state or county Alliance have an upcoming event? Get it listed in the "Save the Date" section of the AMA Alliance E-Connection. E-mail your event information to Leia Vincent at Leia.Vincent@ama-assn.org.

More news to note... from AMAA President, Sandi Frost:

Good news - literally. An article appeared in the New York
Times (circulation 1,000,665) in which the AMA Alliance, prominently
featured as the volunteer arm of the AMA, gained some national
visibility for our Screen Out position regarding smoking and tobacco
product placement in film intended for a young audience.

We stated the Alliance intent to lodge an official complaint (letter) with Warner
Brothers and its corporate parent, Time Warner for images shown in the
film Just Not That Into You. You can read the entire article by clicking on this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/movies/26smok.html
It is important to keep up the work in our local communities and to continue to put pressure on the film industry so that we can see a comprehensive policy passed.

Thank you.

Sandi

Sandi Frost
President
American Medical Association Alliance (AMAA)
Phone/Fax: 606.678.5493
Sandi.Frost@ama-assn.org <mailto:Sandi.Frost@ama-assn.org>