Marin’s teenagers are drinking “too early, too often and too much,” far above the state average, Kristen Law, a member of the county’s Health and Human Services team, said at a Tuesday meeting of the West Marin Coalition for Healthy Kids—a collection of school districts, youth and faith groups, healthcare professionals and others who have teamed up to address youth access to alcohol, drug and tobacco use. The coalition is taking a new approach, focusing on “root causes and risk factors” rather than “bad kids,” she continued: if the focus is on changing norms among both parents and teens, the broad assortment of groups involved can reach the mass of a “movement,” the same way tobacco use has been drastically cut by past campaigns. The group is not advocating prohibition; in fact, many of the members admitted to casual drinking. “We may not have a lot of stuff we can take on [compared to Novato or San Rafael], but we do have a culture of frequent and excessive drinking [in West Marin]. Halloween comes and everyone’s walking around Woodacre completely loaded. I’ve been that person, and I didn’t realize the effect that had until this group started,” said one of the coalition’s new staff members, Heather Richardson. “I want to be modeling a way that changes the culture and is community-minded for these kids. That’s why I’m here.”