Prevention Council

Providing Substance Abuse Education, Information and Referral Services

Letter to the editor: Allowing underage drinking is a big mistake

Seen in: The Post Star

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Editor:

This has been an unprecedented time of uncertainty as parents struggle to maintain family stability through the pandemic. While COVID-19 can overshadow many issues, please do not let underage drinking be one of them. Remember that hosting underage drinking parties is never acceptable and is illegal.

Some parents wonder if allowing their kids to drink at home can help them develop “an appropriate relationship with alcohol.” The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that some parents take this even further and start enabling underage drinking for other teens in their home, thinking they are providing a controlled environment.

One or two parents attempting to control a dozen or more teens who are drinking alcohol is not a controlled environment. There are long and short term consequences for teens. Those teens are at risk of harming the development of their brains, adverse reactions to the medication they take, sexual assault at the party or elsewhere, and injury to themselves or others. Far more effective than allowing drinking at home is to model good drinking behavior and to have strict rules about underage drinking, the NIAAA found.

Giving kids alcohol doesn’t help them learn to drink responsibly. It teaches them that their parents are OK with them drinking, which only encourages them to push those boundaries further and to experiment more.

The Community Coalition for Family Wellness in South Glens Falls, The Prevention Council of Saratoga County and the Council for Prevention in Warren/Washington Counties are here as a resource and an ally to parents and community members in keeping our kids safe. Reach out to us for resources at ccfwsgf.org, preventioncouncil.org and councilforprevention.org or on social media.

Kelly Stevens, South Glens Falls

Coalition Coordinator, Community Coalition for Family Wellness

Saratoga County deputies get help in preventing boating while intoxicated

Seen on: WNYT Channel 13

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

SARATOGA SPRINGS – By all accounts, Saratoga Lake is busier than ever and police and prevention types are partnering to make it as safe as ever.

“Hey guys, you’re not in any trouble,” Deputy John Becker yelled to a family from Corning riding on a pontoon boat Tuesday.

Becker was riding on a SeaDoo personal watercraft. He was one of four deputies stopping boats on Saratoga Lake to hand out paper.

They weren’t writing tickets. People were getting brochures about the dangers of boating under the influence.

“I’m from the Prevention Council,”  Amber Danaher told the family.  “We have these flyers here that explain boating safety and boating under the influence.”

The brochures are part of a campaign called Operation Dry Water — the Prevention Council partnering with police to spread the word about the dangers of boating while intoxicated.

There are also billboards, lawn signs and radio PSAs.

“We just want to prevent people from going to jail, having fines, injuring others or themselves,” said Danaher.

Sgt. Guy Gurney says it’s his understanding boat sales are up as much as 75% this summer.

“With the pandemic, a lot of families have canceled their vacations, and they’re looking for something to do with their families and boating seems to be that number one choice,” Gurney said.

Which means more boats and personal watercraft on the lakes.

But Gurney says arrests of intoxicated boaters have stayed about the same and education is working.

“Accidents and BWIs have been consistently going down and that is due to education,” said Gurney.

Operation Dry Water also aims to spread the word about life jackets, saying 84% of the people who drown in a boating accident aren’t wearing them.

Capital Region nonprofits win grants to expand addiction recovery services

Seen in: Times Union

Monday, March 4, 2019

ALBANY — Two Capital Region nonprofits that assist people in recovery from addiction were awarded state funding Friday to establish and expand recovery services in their communities.

Second Chance Opportunities, an Albany nonprofit that helps individuals fresh out of addiction treatment find stable housing and employment, was awarded $350,000 to establish a recovery community center in Albany.

The center will be located at 55 Colvin Ave., where the nonprofit moved its headquarters last November. Co-founder Kellie Roe told the Times Union at the time that she always intended to open a community center in the space, regardless of whether her organization won a state grant, which was awarded through a competitive Request for Applications process.

“The community needs this,” she said. “We’ve been at this too long, we’ve been filling this gap for too long not to give the community this.”

At Second Chance Opportunities, the grant will allow Roe to hire a manager for the community center, a coordinator and a recovery coach.

The Prevention Council of Saratoga County was also awarded funding — $80,000 to expand services at its recovery community center at 125 High Rock Ave. in Saratoga Springs.

The center, known as Healing Springs, hosts mutual aid groups, yoga and meditation classes, and sober social events around the Super Bowl, Labor Day and other holidays. It also provides family support navigators to those who are wondering how to assist loved ones through recovery.

New York has pushed for the creation of recovery community centers in recent years, as the state battles an overdose epidemic and a growing number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction.

The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services announced Friday more than $5.1 million in funding to establish 14 new recovery community centers across the state, and expand services at two existing recovery centers.

The centers promote long-term recovery by providing professional staff, peers and volunteers to engage and support people in recovery. Services include peer support, skill building, recreation, wellness education, employment readiness and sober social activities.

12 Saratoga County establishments cited in underage drinking check

Seen on: WNYT

February 19, 2019 06:17 PM

A two-day underage drinking operation in Saratoga County ends with 12 establishments accused of violating the law.

The state’s beverage control law prohibits the sale of an alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of 21 years.

Eighty stores and eateries were checked. Twelve establishments and their employees were issued a ticket.

The sheriff’s office says the goal of the operation was to not only check for proper ID, but to curb underage drinking.

The following businesses were cited:

1. City Sports Grille (Sparetime Bowling Alley), St. Rt. 9 in the Town of Halfmoon

2. Speedway, 100 Commerce Drive in the Town of Clifton Park

3. Speedway, 229 Church Avenue in the Town of Ballston

4. The Whitehouse Restaurant and Bar, 95 Milton Ave in the Village of Ballston Spa

5. Post Time Wine and Spirits, 170 South Broadway in the City of Saratoga Springs

6. Red Cap Mobile, 177 South Broadway in the City of Saratoga Springs

7. Humbuggs, 569 Gansevoort Road in the Town of Moreau

8. Friendly Spirits, Wines & Liquors, 1346 St. Rt. 9 in the Town of Moreau

9. Tim’s Discount Liquors, 139 St. Rt. 9 in the Town of Moreau

10. Jones & 50 Wine and Spirits, 4208 St. Rt. 50 in the Town of Wilton

11. Stewarts Shops, 43 Bluebird Road in the Town of Moreau

12. Gulf Gas Station, 10 Round Lake Road in the Town of Malta

Editorial: Arrest a reminder of dangers of underage drinking

Seen in: The Daily Gazette
Link to full article: https://dailygazette.com/article/2019/01/13/editorial-arrest-a-reminder-of-dangers-of-underage-drinking

For many kids, exposure to alcohol at a young age can be a harbinger of other problems

What’s the big deal?

The kids were all in the house. They were safe. They weren’t out running the streets causing trouble. They weren’t doing hard drugs.

So what’s the problem when adults condone underage drinking in their home?

That’s the question a lot of people might be asking following the arrest of a Wilton couple and their 20-year-old son for hosting an underage drinking party on New Year’s Eve.

In all, about a dozen kids age 17-20 were at the party, where the adults supplied the alcohol, the venue and the alibi.

In the wake of the opioid epidemic, bullying, distracted driving, the dangers associated with social media, and other issues facing teenagers these days, it would be easy to push underage drinking to the bottom of the worry pile.

But underage drinking is now, just as it was a decade ago and decades before that, a pervasive problem in our society that we can’t afford to stop taking seriously.

According to the Prevention Council — a Saratoga Springs-based nonprofit organization that works to prevent alcohol, drug and other substance abuse — alcohol remains the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States.

Each year in the U.S., more than 4,300 people die as a result of underage drinking — either through motor vehicle accidents, suicide and homicide, and accidental overdose.

When parents condone or — in the Wilton case — encourage and support underage drinking, they’re contributing to the damaging effects that alcohol has both immediately and in the long-term on children who are too young to handle it.

According to the Prevention Council, 11 percent of all the alcohol consumed in the United States is by underage drinkers, age 12-20.

Within any 30-day period, more than a quarter of kids will consume alcohol and more than 17 percent of that group will binge drink, which can lead to alcohol poisoning and other issues.

Drinking, especially by youth, can contribute to a whole host of health and social issues, including poor attendance and performance in school; dangerous and inappropriate decisions due to behavioral issues; problems with memory and thinking; depression; low-self esteem and in some cases suicide.

Young women and girls in particular can often find themselves in dangerous situations due to alcohol use that can lead to rape and sexual assault, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy.

While kids today seem to be more cognizant of the dangers of drunk driving and have more means than older generations to get home safely, such as ride-sharing and cabs, many kids still make the bad judgment of drinking and driving. And when kids do it, they’re often distracted by friends in the car and their phones, which can make their adventures on the road even more dangerous to themselves, their passengers and other motorists.

For many kids, exposure to alcohol at a young age can be a harbinger of other problems, including abuse of tobacco and drugs and alcohol-dependency as adults.

When parents support their children’s drinking by hosting parties for them and their friends, it sends the message that there’s no harm in what they’re doing.

That potential harm is the precise reason why we place age limits on alcohol and tobacco consumption in the first place.

But if parents and other adults — the people who have direct contact and influence with children — don’t understand or respect the problems that alcohol use among young people can cause, then the threat to our children’s health and well-being will continue and get worse.

Underage drinking was and is still a serious problem.

We need to continue to take it seriously and to do what we can, starting in our own households, to stop it.

Lock It Up! The Prevention Council advises to lock up all your alcohol so that it cannot be accessed by your children or their friends

Nearly half of kids between the ages of 12 and 14 who drink get their alcohol from their family or at home, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA). To ensure Saratoga communities are educated and empowered to address underage drinking in a critical way-removing access to alcohol, the Prevention Council launched a billboard campaign advising parents to lock up their alcohol.  The billboard’s message raises awareness that a teen’s #1 source of alcohol is in the home, and is a call to action to lock up alcohol in the home. Jennifer Wood, Prevention Council Outreach Director said “family members play an important role in reducing kids’ access to alcohol, which could prevent underage drinking and the dangers that come with it.”

The billboard’s release was timed to coincide with the prom and graduation season, the most dangerous time of year for teens, especially when it comes to drinking and driving. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) one in three children under age 21 who died in alcohol-related accidents died during prom and graduation season. And for the past several years during prom weekend, approximately 300 teens have died in alcohol-related car accidents.

STOP DWI of Saratoga County is supporting this campaign which will utilize billboards in 4 Saratoga County locations:

  • Kinns Road near the Northway Overpass (Clifton Park)
  • Route 9 in Wilton near Smith Bridge Road
  • Route 50 in Ballston Spa near Mourningkill Creek
  • Route 4 & 32 in Mechanicville

 

Saratoga Springs Students Learn About Social Media Safety

March 17, 2016

Featured on TWC News

Links to video can be found here: http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2016/03/17/saratoga-springs-new-york-students-learn-about-social-media-safety.html?cid=facebook_YNN-Albany

Saratoga Springs students took the day off to learn how to use social media safely and wisely. More than 250 students attended the Safe Spring Student Leadership Conference at Skidmore College Thursday.

Organized by the Saratoga County Prevention Council, the conference allowed students to discuss healthy online habits and behaviors. Students attended workshops about social media safety, media literacy and drug and alcohol prevention methods. Many of the workshops highlighted social media’s ability to skew perceptions of alcohol and drug use.

The Youth Specialist for the Saratoga Prevention Council, Kait Downey, says it is essential to teach students how to use social media appropriately.

“Social media can be a really great tool if it’s used responsibly,” Downey said, “and it’s up to parents and educators to try and help promote the safe and responsible use of it. Just remember to be light, bright and polite.”

Following the workshops, students spent the rest of the day dancing, chatting and snacking.

Conference educates students of important prevention techniques

March 18, 2016

Seen in: The Saratogian

Story by: Jennie Grey

Link to full article found here: http://www.saratogian.com/social-affairs/20160318/conference-educates-students-of-important-prevention-techniques

March 17 heralded the Prevention Council’s 34th annual Safe Spring Student Leadership Conference, held at Skidmore College for high-school students. The goal of the conference, sponsored by Saratoga County Stop DWI, was to motivate and prepare student leaders to actively engage their peers in effective local prevention initiatives centered around prom, graduation and other spring social events. More than 270 Saratoga County high school students from all 12 districts and BOCES learned from local prevention specialists and engaged in local awareness efforts.

Sophomore Meaghan Whalen from Galway Central School District said the conference was “really informative, fun and inspiring.”

“I met a lot of cool people and learned a lot,” she said.

Mayor Joanne Yepsen met with students at the conference.“As mayor of Saratoga Springs, sometimes I feel like the mother of 28,000 people,” she said. “The city and groups like the Prevention Council do a great deal to keep people safe here.“I know you’re taking the day off from school, and that’s a hardship,” she continued, smiling. “But this is really important because you’re going to learn a lot and save a lot of lives. Please make good decisions.”

This year, the Safe Spring conference focused on local awareness efforts and showcased hometown prevention heroes, said LeeAnn Mandrillo, communications specialist for the Prevention Council. The goal was for students to know what resources were available in their own communities, to learn from local leaders and to build partnerships enhancing what the students brought to their high school Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) clubs.

SADD is a peer-to-peer education, prevention and activism organization dedicated to stopping destructive decisions, particularly underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, teen violence and teen suicide. SADD is considered the nation’s dominant peer-to-peer youth education and prevention organization, with thousands of chapters in middle schools, high schools and colleges. Local students learn to be safe and sober leaders in their own communities, and to address substance-abuse issues in their own schools.

“Some of the high school clubs now have other names than SADD,” said Pat Marin, outreach and director of education services at the Prevention Council. “The students want to focus on more positive names like the Wellness Club.”

The South Glens Falls Central School District prevention club is called Sources of Strength. Senior Brittany Kenny said she joined because she wanted to help people who were struggling with addictive issues.“I wanted them to know they don’t have to go and abuse alcohol and drugs,” she said. “They can have the support of family and friends.”

According to the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, more than 1.9 million New Yorkers have a substance abuse problem: 1.77 million adults and 156,000 youths ages 12-17. The teen years are the likeliest time for someone to start taking drugs. And starting drug use as a teen can lead to drug problems when young people grow up. Extensive research has shown definitely that teen peer programs can have statistically significant effects on attitudes, norms, knowledge, behaviors, and health and achievement outcomes of teens. This is especially true with alcohol and drug use.

So the students attended program sessions and discussed such issues as: Should the legal drinking age be raised to 25, when the brain is fully developed? What are the consequences of drinking during other activities than driving? Why is it dangerous to mix alcohol and marijuana? What are the effects of marijuana and prescription drugs on driving? What challenges are the SADD clubs facing? And what were the most positive things learned at the conference to bring back to their clubs?

“The speakers were really informative, and it was good to hear all the different points of view,” said sophomore Ben Lafreniere from Galway.His classmate, freshman Lindsey Gileski, said, “I loved how all the sessions brought things into real life.”

Local police and former police officers held sessions on social media awareness and driving safety. Saratoga Springs prevention educator Brian Farr spoke about how advertising and marketing lure young people to try alcohol.

Junior Morghan Fisk from South Glens Falls attended Farr’s session and said she found it eye-opening.“Things aren’t always what they seem,” she said.

Prevention Council staff held SADD club advisor training and also banner-making sessions for the students.Kenny and Fisk helped make a banner for their club, Sources of Strength.“We wrote on it, ‘Positive Minds, Positive Vibes, Positive Lives,’” Kenny said.

Yepsen said to the students, “Your commitment to getting that message out gives me great hope and great confidence.”

How do you measure alcohol use among teenagers? The New York State Office on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) goes right to the source, asking the teens themselves.

Featured in:The Saratogian

Story By: Jennie Grey

Link to article can be found here: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20151214/survey-breaks-down-alcohol-marijuana-usage-among-students

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> How do you measure alcohol use among teenagers? The New York State Office on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) goes right to the source, asking the teens themselves.

The Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County administers OASAS’s anonymous Youth Development Survey to participating Saratoga Springs City School District students in grades 7-12 every two years. The October 2014 survey results revealed key facts about increased drinking in older students and correspondingly low rates of use in younger teens.

Prevention Council Coalition Development Director Robin Lyle presented the 2014 results to the Saratoga Springs Board of Education at the board’s Dec. 8 meeting.

The Prevention Council is a community-based nonprofit organization. Its mission as a prevention specialist is to provide education, information and referral services on the subjects of alcohol, tobacco, other drug and violence prevention to individuals and communities throughout Saratoga County.

“While alcohol use by Saratoga Springs district ninth- and 10th-graders is at or below state levels, use by 11th- and 12th-graders exceeds state and national averages, and has increased 16 percent since the previous survey in 2012,” Lyle said. “Further, regular alcohol use by 12th graders is 9 percentage points higher than the state average and 23 percentage points higher than the national rate.”

The level of drinking among the Saratoga Springs high school upperclassmen is on a par with the national college underage drinking, Lyle said. Some 61 percent of the high-schoolers reported using alcohol in the past month.

Marijuana use among 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders is above the state usage rates. Regular marijuana use for 12th-graders is 8 percentage points higher than the state average and 15 percentage points higher than the national average.

“There’s also an increased use of electronic cigarettes and vaping,” Lyle said.

There’s good news as well. Middle school alcohol and marijuana use is significantly below the state rates and has remained consistently low throughout the past decade. Also, binge-drinking among high-schoolers has declined 24 percent since 2012.

Saratoga County communication is open: More students report having received prevention messages and having talked to their parents about substance use than other students across the state.

District Superintendent Michael Piccirillo encouraged the use of positive messages about choosing not to use alcohol or drugs.

“For example, we have a series of posters up in the high school that help dispel the myth that everyone is doing this,” he said.

On the other hand, some families aren’t watching out for their teens, since high school students are most often consuming alcohol at private homes, getting it from friends or acquaintances who are younger than 21, interestingly. Students also reported getting alcohol at concerts and sporting events, at a higher rate than their peers across the state.

“Of the 11th- and 12th-graders who reported using alcohol, 68 percent said either they were not caught or, if caught, did not receive consequences from their parents,” Lyle said.

The Prevention Council made several recommendations for parent, student and community focus on alcohol and marijuana use.

For parents, the nonprofit suggested raising parent/community awareness of risks of use, and increasing parent/teen conversations about expectations, family policies and consequences of use.

For students, the recommendations included promoting awareness of actual norms of substance use by peers and reinforcing periodically with positive messaging, and raising awareness of the risks of substance use.

For the community, the council proposed partnering with law enforcement to address underage drinking parties and promoting an underage drinking hotline to report such parties.

The Youth Development Survey was administered in-school in October 2014. A total of 3,186 individual student responses were included in the final report. Of these, 1,084 were middle and 2,102 were high school students.

And how do you know the students were telling the truth about such a complicated and personal subject? Following receipt of the surveys, all survey forms were checked to determine the validity and reliability of the data. A small percentage of students were judged to have returned invalid survey data. For example, students who claimed to use all drugs at the highest levels of use were eliminated from the final data set. In total, five separate checks of the logical consistency and validity of the students’ responses were conducted.

‘Changing the conversation’ about alcohol, drug treatment

November 24, 2014

Story by: Meg Hagerty

 Featured in: The Post-Star

 Link to article can be found here: http://poststar.com/news/local/changing-the-conversation-about-alcohol-drug-treatment/article_1dd36736-734f-11e4-a16a-efc3581c747d.html

 

An area grass-roots effort is underway to help erase the stigma surrounding alcohol and drug addiction.

Since July, supporters of RAIS, Recovery Advocacy In Saratoga, have been meeting in hopes of becoming a community resource for individuals and families in recovery. The belief is that, by “changing the conversation” about recovery, addicts will be more likely to achieve long-term success, and others will be encouraged to pursue recovery.

Robert Lindsey, a volunteer who has spent his career in alcoholism and addiction counseling, said much of the media coverage focuses on the “drama and chaos” of the Lindsay Lohans and Philip Seymour Hoffmans of the world, and less on the 23 million people who are living life in recovery and functioning well.

“They’re doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, pilots, pastors. The reality is alcoholism and addiction is like other chronic illnesses like cancer and diabetes. We’re talking chronic, progressive, fatal if untreated and genetically predisposed,” Lindsey said. “There is no one who set out to become addicted but, plain and simple biochemically, some people’s bodies respond differently to the effects of alcohol and other drugs, just like the diabetic.”

RAIS formed after a volunteer, who has since left to attend college, presented “The Anonymous People,” a documentary about the development of recovery community centers (RCCs) for individuals and their families that offer education, support and resources, while also helping to change the public’s perception of those in recovery.

The film discusses the fact that people who have participated in such support groups as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Alanon and Naranon have lived their lives in recovery very quietly. Consequently, friends and family didn’t know about it. Now, however, people are being encouraged to talk about their recovery and help to change the public’s understanding of the issues.

RAIS, which is sponsored by Prevention Council of Saratoga County, has consistently drawn about 15 to its monthly meetings, including people in recovery, friends and family of those in recovery and professionals in the addiction field.

Jacob Weakland, 29, has struggled with a substance abuse disorder for half his life and said it’s time to shine a positive light on people in long-term recovery.

“Right now, especially the statistics back this up, somebody would rather have a neighbor that was in prison for a violent crime than was a drug addict. You were perceived as a moral failure. It didn’t matter if you were an outstanding member of society,” Weakland said. “There are many people in long-term recovery who are living by a set of principles but they don’t come out due to this stigma. They don’t tell their stories or share them.”

 

Lindsey said a primary mission of the group is to identify the most significant needs in the community and put together a plan of action to address those issues. He anticipates there will be a need for an RCC where individuals and families in recovery can gain support and resources, as well as information on job searches and training.

Likewise, the organization also plans to advocate for expanding access to recovery and treatment support services by working with elected officials.

“The reality, regrettably, is less than 10 percent of the people who need treatment get it. In many cases, insurance doesn’t provide access to treatment. In many cases, people need sober housing and it isn’t available,” Lindsey said.

Julie Brennan of Mechanicville became involved with RAIS because she has a 23-year-old son who is in recovery from an addiction to cocaine and heroin. She recently donated lime green plastic wristbands with the slogan “‘RAIS’ Our Voices’” that she wants volunteers to distribute to help raise awareness about the group.

“One day everybody’s going to be talking about it. I just want to see the day when we have a fundraiser – golf tournaments or these huge galas – for addiction recovery. It’s so incredibly wonderful that they’re all over this country for breast cancer and diabetes and leukemia. I want it to say addiction recovery because these kids are just as important,” Brennan said.

Janine Stuchin, executive director of the Prevention Council of Saratoga County, said RAIS is progressing “tremendously” for having gone from an idea a few months ago to a group with planned sub committees and an agenda.

“What I love about this group is its rawness and authenticity. Nobody is there for a pay check, nobody is there for the glory. We’re all there to make a difference,” Stuchin said.