Prevention Council

Providing Substance Abuse Education, Information and Referral Services

Grant awarded to reduce youth substance abuse

May 13, 2013

Featured in the Post Star

Story by: Michael Goot

Link to full article can be found here: http://poststar.com/news/local/grant-awarded-to-reduce-youth-substance-abuse/article_a3d0e55c-0ec5-577c-b5b0-1bba620ac4a9.html

SARATOGA SPRINGS: The Prevention Council and the South Glens Falls Community Coalition for Family Wellness have been awarded $627,300 to address the problem of prescription opiate and heroin abuse in northern Saratoga County.

The funding will be awarded over a 4 1/2-year period and will be used to hire staff and assess the problem in the community among youths and young adults and to launch initiatives. In addition, the coalition will mentor another community coalition to carry out similar efforts, according to a news release.

Over the past five years, the Community Coalition for Family Wellness has initiated a Parent University program, developed student leaders and continued a campaign to reduce substance use by youths. The Prevention Council will serve as the fiscal agent for the grant, and provide technical support and guidance as needed.

The coalition covers the geographic boundaries of the South Glens Falls Central School District including the village of South Glens Falls, town of Moreau, parts of Wilton and Northumberland and the hamlet of Gansevoort. It is one of 10 coalitions in New York to receive a Partnership for Success grant from the NYS Office on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“We are pleased to have funding to address the serious increase in illicit prescription opiate and heroin abuse. As the demographics of opiate use change, the impact is being felt in small suburban communities like those in northern Saratoga County,” said Jenn Wood, a coalition coordinator in a news release.

Prevention council effort strives to educate on dangers of heroin

Featured in: The Saratogian

Story by: Lauren Mineau

Link to full article can be found here: http://www.saratogian.com/lifestyle/20150430/prevention-council-effort-strives-to-educate-on-dangers-of-heroin#author1

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Heroin was once an inner city drug, but it has now surged into suburban communities and members of The Prevention Council are hoping to raise awareness about the battle with addiction.

The Prevention Council hosted a forum Tuesday night for an age group most likely to experiment with the drug – high school students and young adults.

Maigan Richardson of Ballston Spa shared her story at Saratoga Springs High School as part of a discussion about the local heroin epidemic as a whole.

Richardson recalled suffering an injury in high school and being prescribed medication for the pain, but said her doctors never told her about the dangers of the opiate-based painkillers. She said she soon began to develop a dependency, even after her injury had healed.

With heroin now available in a more pure form from Mexico and Brazil, more people are apt to try it and addiction can happen quickly.

“That purer form, people can get a high from it by snorting it or smoking it as opposed to injecting it” said Robin Lyle, director of outreach at the Saratoga area Prevention Council. “For some people, that eliminates a barrier that they might otherwise have to using it. People are not perceiving it as risky and harmful, as they used to, partially because the prescriptions are seen as medicine.”

Tuesday’s event was designed to educate parents and students about the drug. The Prevention Council has two more upcoming events to educate and inform about the dangers of heroin.

“They’re a bit of a captive audience,” Lyle said, “but I think right here is where the prevention can happen. It’s really important to get that message out now.”

On Thursday, April 30, Friends from Recovery Advocacy in Saratoga and The Prevention Council will host a recovery talk – a community listening forum on addiction on recovery. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. Community members are invited to share their stories of addiction and listen to others.

‘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.

 

A dose of reality: South High panel talks about prevalence of pot use among students

October 30, 2014

 

Story by: Michael Goot

Featured in: The Post-Star

Link to article can be found here: http://poststar.com/news/local/a-dose-of-reality-south-high-panel-talks-about-prevalence/article_6da880f6-607c-11e4-96c7-976bda4eac09.html

 

MOREAU — South Glens Falls High School students are smoking marijuana at sporting events, behind the elementary school after hours and even during lunch, say a panel of their peers.

Senior Teyler Nassivera said some students have put marijuana into e-cigarettes and taken a video of themselves smoking in the lunch line that they post on the social media site Snapchat.

“I know people who have snuck it to school. I know people who are using it for stress-relievers,” she said Wednesday at a Parent University Forum titled “Marijuana, What’s the Big Deal?” held at the high school.

About 40 people attended the event organized by the Community Coalition for Family Wellness, which is a group working to reduce youth substance abuse and risky behaviors and provide necessary resources to families. The forum featured students and representatives from the law enforcement and substance abuse treatment communities.

 

One in four South High juniors and seniors admitted smoking marijuana within the past 30 days, according to a survey of about 1,150 seventh-grade through 12th-grade students administered this past spring.

Jenn Wood, coalition coordinator, said school officials are concerned about the large numbers, particularly at the eighth-grade level where the percentage who admitted smoking within the past month went from 5 percent in the 2011 survey to 8 percent in 2014.

Wood said although the survey did not show a lot of cocaine or heroin use among students, there is a relationship between marijuana and harder drugs, according to the data.

“Those who end up using cocaine or heroin have a much greater chance of having starting with something like alcohol, marijuana or tobacco,” she said.

Teens have various hangouts where they can smoke pot, according to Nassivera.

“A lot of people go over to Tanglewood (Elementary) and smoke on the property late at night,” she said.

Nassivera said she has been pressured in the past by friends and teammates, but has resisted.

“They always used to try to coax me into doing it. ‘Come on, it doesn’t really matter.’ After a while, they realize I’m not into that,” she said.

Nassivera said she doesn’t want to get mixed up with illegal substances because she wants to achieve her goals and set a good example for her younger sibling.

 

Nassivera has heard that some parents have allowed supervised parties where youths are allowed to drink and smoke pot.

Freshman Brianna Harrington said some parents think marijuana is no big deal.

“If the parents aren’t being serious at home, the child isn’t going to take it seriously,” she said.

Junior Brittany Kenny said even if law enforcement were to crack down on teen drug use, students would find another place to do it.

She urged parents and students to watch out for warning signs that students may be using drugs, including being more closed off than before.

“They don’t want to talk to you as much as they would have. They’re keeping more of their emotions to themselves because they’re dealing with it,” she said.

Kenny said the transitions from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school seem to be the times when students are most susceptible to peer pressure. They may drop their old friends and start hanging out with a new group.

Junior Jake Kerr said students who are doing drugs may start acting and dressing differently.

“They go from dressing all preppy to wearing Bob Marley ‘stay trippin’ shirts,” he said.

Alcohol is also used frequently by some students, according to Kerr.

“A lot of people just drink all the time and think nothing of it,” he said. “Just every weekend, get wasted, whatever.”

 

Effect on brain

Bill Bean, program manager for St. Peter’s Recovery Center, said around the age of 12 and 13 seems to be the time when addicts say they first smoked marijuana.

Bean said young people’s brains are still developing during the high school years, so there is a risk with introducing marijuana. The drug collects in the fatty tissue between nerves in the body and it is difficult to gauge the effect on that.

Saratoga County Assistant District County John Leggett said there is the perception that marijuana is not treated as seriously as other drug offenses. While that is true to some extent, marijuana is still illegal in New York and Leggett said people are convicted of felonies quite frequently.

Law enforcement punishes a seller more harshly, according to Leggett.

“We view them as a person who looks to take advantage of other people, looks to profit from their habit or addiction,” he said. “We hope to seal off that supply and make it harder for people to obtain those drugs.”

Police and the district attorney’s office are more interested in seeking rehabilitation for people caught with marijuana, according to Leggett. However, they are concerned that marijuana use could contribute to other crimes.

“There could be a nexus, or connection, between marijuana use and a person’s propensity to commit property crimes in order to obtain funds to purchase drugs to feed their habit or addiction,” he said.

The county sees a lot of cases of driving under the influence of drugs, according to Leggett.

Saratoga County Sheriff’s Deputy Nic Denno said the most common marijuana-related offense that people are charged with is a violation of unlawful possession.

Most studies show that marijuana slows reaction time and impairs coordination as much as if someone were under the influence of alcohol.

Staying connected

School officials said it is important to stress to students that not everyone is doing drugs.

Students said there are positive activities to get involved with at the school. One school club called Sources of Strength stresses positive friends, family support, spirituality, generosity, mental health, medical access, mentors and physical activity.

Wood said it is important that students be as informed as possible.

“We’re not looking to tell people what to do and what not to do. We’re really looking to share information,” she said.

Kenny encouraged parents to talk to their children.

“We may not like the answer because we’re hard-headed and invincible and think nothing bad can happen,” he said.

Getting the straight dope on marijuana use

October 30, 2014

Story by: Jennie Gray

Featured in: The Saratogian

Link to article can be found here: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20141031/getting-the-straight-dope-on-marijuana-use

South Glens Falls

With marijuana now legal in several states, information and misinformation about the drug are swirling like smoke; so the Community Coalition for Family Wellness hopes to provide resources that promote safety and health, especially for youth. The school district’s Oct. 29 Parent University night, called “Marijuana, What’s the Big Deal?”, gave families, students, faculty and community partners a look at current medical, sociological and legal aspects of cannabis use in teenagers.

The evening’s presenters stressed that although nationwide attitudes towards marijuana use are shifting toward acceptance, concerns remain due to its effect on the developing brain.

Community Coalition for Family Wellness Coordinator Jenn Wood shared results from 2011 and 2014 drug-use surveys of South Glens Falls High School students. Alcohol was the most highly used substance in the past month from the survey date, with 19 percent of students from 7th to 12th grade drinking. Marijuana came next, with 13 percent of those students using it in the past month. Most other drugs, from tobacco to Ecstacy, were used by 1 percent to 4 percent of the students in the past month. No students reported using cocaine, methamphetamines or heroin in that past month.

“Tonight, we will focus on marijuana’s impact on youth,” Wood said. “Altering one’s perception of reality can increase the risk of harm. Also, teen brains are more vulnerable to addiction than adult brains. We want students to be able to make evidence-based decisions.”

The survey results showed that eighth-graders are especially prone to using alcohol and marijuana at a stage in adolescence where they have more responsibilities and where their peer group has great influence.

“That’s a risky time for kids,” Wood said.

Looking at the district’s older students, the coalition found 33 percent of 11th-graders say their friends think it’s fine to smoke marijuana. Some 63 percent of 12th-graders say it’s easy to get pot, and 47 percent of 12th-graders know at least one adult who smokes marijuana.

To get a real teenager’s-eye view of marijuana, the coalition assembled its South Glens Falls High School Youth Panel, comprising seniors Ryan Hay and Teyler Nassivera; juniors Brittany Kenny and Jake Kerr; and freshman Brianna Harrington, for the Parent University event. These students spoke about their brushes with marijuana and thoughts on drug use.

In response to a question on how they reacted to the possibility of using marijuana, Harrington replied that her long-term life goals for college, a job and sports kept her away from pot.

Nassivera said, “I don’t want to fall short of the person I wish to be.”

Hay is living up to his parents’ standards and high expectations for him, as well as setting a good example for younger children.

The students praised the school’s sports programs, coaches and teachers as strong support. Disrespect for those coaches and teachers, as well as peer pressure and teasing, could make staying away from pot a challenge.

When asked whether their parents spoke to them about drugs, the students said both yes and no.

“I think it was more me finding out about things and coming home to tell my parents about drugs,” Harrington said.

Nassivera said her own parents hadn’t talked with her, but a family friend had.

When asked how to tell that someone was getting into drugs, the students responded readily. Harrington said the transitions into middle school and then high school could prompt a switch into a new group of friends. If the student is closed off from old friends, Kenny said, that’s a sign of change.

An audience member said, “Look out for excessive use of Febreeze. If a student’s car starts smelling very floral, that could be a sign.”

The event’s three professional presenters agreed that marijuana can have ill effects on young people.

Saratoga County Sheriff’s Dept. Deputy Nic Denno of the K9 Unit said, “We’re out on the street, involved with the sellers and users of the drug. Marijuana is dangerous; it has an impact on decision-making.”

He discussed possession, constructive possession and driving while under the influence of drugs, an issue he sees too often.

Saratoga County Assistant District Attorney John Leggett spoke about felony crimes involving marijuana sales and possession. His office becomes involves after an arrest, as the second stage in the criminal justice process.

“A drug felony conviction can lead to jail time and probation,” he said. “Marijuana use is also often a nexus with other crimes, such as larcenies and burglaries to get funds to support the habit. Impaired driving is another serious issue.”

St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center Program Manager Bill Bean, who has worked in substance abuse counseling for 30 years, spoke about the average age at which people begin to use marijuana: 12. Predisposition, challenging family situations and difficult social situations can lead to this first use and can continue to overuse and abuse.

“Some kids have found their way through the door of the recovery center here with their heels dragging in the dirt,” he said.

Since marijuana’s main mind-altering ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, is fat-soluable, it stays in the body for a long while, especially in the myelin of nerves, he said. Long-term pot users can’t handle stress, emotions or decisions.

“We tell kids to be good consumers, to do the research,” he said. “Read a lot of articles from many publications.”

Kristen Chilson and her brother, Eric Bain, attended the Parent University event along with about 50 other people. The siblings both have middle-schoolers and had come to learn more about marijuana issues at that age.

“My kid doesn’t tell me anything,” Bain said, smiling.

They agreed that the evening was informative and planned to talk with their kids at home.

Patty Kilgore, director of counseling services at the Prevention Council, a member of the coalition, also attended. She said she was pleased at the turnout, which she attributed to word of mouth from parent to parent.

“The panel of kids was helpful,” she said. “People could see that these students weren’t using marijuana and that they were happy. I wish more parents would hear that message. We’re being flooded with information on legalization, but the impact of marijuana in terms of learning lasts. It’s harmful for teenagers.”