Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth (LCAHY) and members of their youth coalition, Teens for Healthy Youth (THY), conducted an environmental scan of over 30 gas stations in Bluffton, Okatie, and Pritchardville, SC. LCAHY developed its own survey adapted from the Counter Tools Survey and a previous environmental scan used by LCAHY that focused on alcohol, tobacco, vapes, and new trends like gas station heroine. THY members answered questions about advertisements that promoted the sales of alcohol, tobacco, vapes and other new trends. They also recorded information on signage that included risks of substance use, signage about ID checks, and signage discouraging the sale to minors. The number of signage available in Spanish was also recorded. In addition, THY members assessed how easy it would be for a youth to access alcohol or other drugs from the gas station. To view the environmental scan survey used by THY click here. THY presented their findings during a LCAHY board meeting. One recommendation for the youth was to encourage more businesses to post signage in English and Spanish. LCAHY received a grant from Smoke Free SC and used some of the monies as an incentive to LCAHY board members for driving the teens to various locations. LCAHY plans to do a scan of vape shops in Bluffton, SC later and plans to conduct a scan of gas stations in Hilton Head Island, SC.
LCAHY Board Member drives THY members to local gas stations and THY checks signage on beer cooler doors.
THY member scans gas stations to evaluate easy access for teens to alcohol & vapes.
A THY member collects information on advertisements in and outside of the gas station.