Community Action on Substance Abuse.

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based non-profit organization of volunteer parents, educators and service groups. CASA's mission was to education adolescents in the community about the risks of using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and to encourage adolescents to live drug free.

From the description of Community Action on Substance Abuse records, 1981-2003. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 85778979

CASA formed in 1981 in response to the 1979 drug-related deaths of several Ann Arbor Huron High School students. Immediately after these events, a substance abuse study group formed at Huron High School and concerned Ann Arbor parents established CASA, originally a non-profit, anti-drug parents' group. CASA founders were Dr. Blackman, Warren Matthews and Bradley Spencer.

The first major CASA event was a Town Meeting in 1982 to address Ann Arbor's adolescent drug abuse problem. Six to eight hundred concerned Ann Arbor residents attended this meeting at Pioneer High School and helped to raise the community's and school officials' attention to the serious issue of drug, alcohol and tobacco use among Ann Arbor's adolescents. CASA held a second Town Meeting in 1983, a third in 1985 and a fourth in 1997.

Through the years, CASA focused on several specific issues: Ann Arbor's marijuana drug ordinance (pot law), the Hash Bash, Ann Arbor schools' reduction of anti-substance abuse programming and counselors and the City of Ann Arbor's reluctance to get involved with and/or fund programs to combat drug abuse in the community.

In addition to fighting against perceived apathy in the community, CASA also spearheaded many programs for both Ann Arbor's public school students and members of the Ann Arbor Community. Some programs include: annual Red Ribbon Prevention Campaigns (national program), Parenting Prevention, Youth to Youth, Keep Off the Grass (in response to the annual Hash Bash), Parental Agreement of Trust (PACT), an anti-substance abuse video lending library, facilitated support groups, a bi-monthly workshop, "Teens Using Drugs: How to Know and What to Do?," Teens Recognizing and Understanding Each Other (TRUE) and more.

CASA remained an all-volunteer, non-profit organization; grants and donations supported CASA's programming. A Governing Board made up of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary persisted throughout; membership numbers and involvement in programs fluctuated. The organization disbanded in 2003.

From the guide to the Community Action on Substance Abuse Records, 1981-2003, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)