PORTSMOUTH — Police have spent years telling people not to drink and drive, but now they’re expanding the message with a new campaign to educate people about responsible drinking.

“Just because you’re not driving doesn’t mean you can totally get blitzed out there in the community,” Portsmouth Police Chief David Ferland said at a news conference Wednesday, where he and others announced a new responsible drinking social marketing campaign called “Think Smart. Drink Safe.”

The goal is to make people think twice before getting drunk, even when they’re not jumping behind the wheel.

As part of the awareness campaign developed by Adam Gaudreault, an intern at the Portsmouth Police Department and a graduate student in justice studies at the University of New Hampshire, 50,000 drink coasters were created and will be distributed to 20 local restaurants through the Downtown Hospitality Association.

The coasters, which will be passed out to patrons when they’re given their drinks, carry responsible drinking messages and QR (quick response) codes that can be scanned by a smartphone to link people to a website created for the campaign, thinksmartdrinksafe.org.

Gaudreault, who plans to enter law enforcement after he graduates in September, said he’s always been drawn to the community aspect of policing and wanted to work on the campaign to “give meaning to responsible drinking.” He said it’s about more than just not drinking and driving.

“We all know at least one person who changes when they’ve been drinking,” Ferland said, adding that excessive drinking can lead to fights and other problems.

The website launched Tuesday night is packed with facts about alcohol, drinking myths, information on transportation, emergency and sexual assault services and other helpful information. It also has a blood alcohol calculator.

Much of the success of the initiative will be gauged by the traffic directed to the site by the QR codes.

“This is the foundation for a program that can grow and evolve over time,” said Adam Vicinus, of The Atom Group, a Portsmouth-based application development firm that assisted the police department with the project.

The $2,700 spent on creating the coasters came from a fine paid by Fat Belly’s, a Portsmouth restaurant that was accused of overserving an intoxicated patron in 2008 who later struck a woman at a crosswalk.

“Nobody is trying to shut down every bar in Portsmouth,” Rockingham County Attorney James Reams said, adding that the campaign is designed to raise awareness for establishments that serve and make people “more aware of their drinking.”