The 2024 Alabama Substance Abuse Youth Summit (SAYS) drew a record crowd of more than 370 state and local government agency representatives, law enforcement officers, healthcare and social workers, educators, court officials, child advocates and professional service at the fourth annual conference.
Below, are links to the agenda, speakers' presentations, photos and video from the 2024 conference.
The mission of Alabama SAYS is to have decision-makers and service providers in the same room at the same time, listening to the same information, in order to forge partnerships, and develop strategies that will better protect Alabama’s youth. The SAYS conference is free of charge, provides lunch and offers Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and Continuing Legal Education Units (CLEs) to attendees.
The 2024 program included the following speakers and presenters: Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall; Sue Thau, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA); Nathan Wray, Prevention Coordinator, Roane County (TN) Anti-Drug Coalition; Elana Merriweather, Adolescent and Adult Program Manager, Alabama Department of Mental Health; Dr. Carmela Drake, Alabama State University, NAADAC U.S. Addictions Educator of the Year; and former CNN, MSNBC and Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue, Chief Brand Officer for RecoveryEducation.com.
The Alabama Substance Abuse Youth Summit is made possible by a grant from the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association.
The Alabama SAYS planning committee was extremely pleased with the 2024 program and cannot wait to start planning for 2025.