Staff and members of the B.O.L.D. (Building Our Lives Drug-free) Coalition, Partners for Clean Air and the Fall River Tobacco Control program met with Bristol Community College Professor Robert Rak and three of his students who are studying GIS technology. Geographic Information System mapping is a technology that allows data to be displayed as symbols on a map that can be overlayed with other data points creating a visible pattern. Professor Rak's students have been working with data supplied by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control program on retail tobacco sales. Included in this data is information about stores that have been cited for sales to minors as well as stores that sell blunt wraps, glass tubes and other items considered by Fall River police to constitute drug paraphernalia. Additional information on retail alcohol licenses is also available on the database. "This database will enable us to demonstrate the pervasive availability of tobacco and other products within the City of Fall River, too much of which ends up in the hands of our youth," stated  BOLD Coalition director Karen Fischer. BOLD is currently supporting proposed ordinances before the Fall River City Council that would prohibit the sales of blunt wraps and glass pipes. For further information, contact Program Director Karen Fischer  at Stanley Street Treatment & Resources at 508-324-3537.
 

(Top row, left) BOLD Coalition director Karen Fischer introduces Susan Dickens of Partners for Clean Air and Maureen Brisson to BCC Science and Engineering professor and Coordinator of Environmental Technology Robert Rak. (Top row, center) GIS course students Constance Soares and William Amaral listen as Professor Rak describes the project to Susan and Karen. (Top row, right) Fall River Tobacco Control Coordinator Marilyn Edge points out some of the tobacco sales outlets located close to public schools. (Middle row) Professor Rak describes the many layers of data contained within each point on the map as Ms. Edge, Bristol Community College Tutoring Coordinator Ron Weisberger, and Ms. Dickens listen. (Bottom row) Students Constance Soares, Shawn Crawford and John Coelho present various components of the mapping database.