Prevention Council

Providing Substance Abuse Education, Information and Referral Services

Reader’s View No underage drinking in our house

May 14, 2013
Reader’s View, The Saratogian

Editor’s note: Through Friday, The Saratogian is collaborating with the Prevention Council as part of National Prevention Week. This week-long observance is an opportunity to raise awareness about substance abuse and mental health issues, to promote prevention efforts and to educate our local communities about the factors that influence substance use. Prevention Week celebrates the idea that everyone has a role to play in prevention. In order to be most effective, prevention should be woven into all aspects of young peoples’ lives.

It’s prom season, and along with the dress, the tux, the hair and the nails comes another prom ritual: drinking.

Alcohol is youths’ No. 1 drug of choice. Saratoga County schools have been proactive in many ways to make sure our teens are safe, but they can only control what happens at the prom itself.

Teens have told us they only stay at the prom long enough to take pictures and then they are off. But where are they going? Last year, we heard an alarming number of stories about teens who went to parties at friends’ homes where alcohol was provided — sometimes with parents’ permission, sometimes without. Scary, right?

The term “social host” refers to people who provide alcohol to someone younger than 21. It’s irrelevant whether a parent or guardian is home or not home, aware or unaware. You become a social host when minors drink alcohol on your property, and you can be held liable for endangering the welfare of those minors. It’s illegal to provide alcohol to anyone younger than 21. It’s illegal for them to consume it, too. But when adults make underage drinking possible, whether by actively hosting or passively closing their bedroom door, they will be the ones police track down when things get out of hand.

Our biannual Saratoga County student surveys have consistently shown that most youths who drink get alcohol from a social host: friends or siblings who are older than 21, parents, house parties or by sneaking it from home. Eighty percent of Saratoga teens who drink alcohol reported they did so “at someone’s house.”

So what should you do if you find out about a gathering where alcohol is going to be provided to minors? There is a wonderful, anonymous hotline you can call to report it: 1-866-UNDER21. If you call the hotline before the party, police will contact the homeowner to remind them that serving minors is illegal and that they will be stopping by that evening. If the call is made while a party is already under way, expect some uninvited guests in uniform.

Parents often tell us that they’d rather their children drink at home in a “safe” environment, where they know where their kids are and who they’re with. But don’t think you’re doing your kids and their friends any favors by allowing them to drink with supervision. There is no such thing as a safe environment for underage drinking.

As a host, you cannot predict the behavior of a minor under the influence of alcohol or how much they have consumed. You put teens at risk of alcohol poisoning, sexual assault, violence and physical injury, and you can be held criminally liable for endangering the welfare of a minor. Parents and other adults need to remember that they are the greatest influence on their teens’ decisions. Parents also bear the primary responsibility for their teens’ misconduct.

If you are hosting a group of kids after the prom, promote responsible celebration. Check regularly on the teens who are camping out in your backyard or on the kids hanging out in your basement. Remove alcohol from your home that evening or lock it up. Check in with your teens regularly from a landline phone if they are at a friend’s house. Make sure they know that you expect them to stay sober not only on prom night, but every night they’re out with their friends.
We’ve said it before, but the message bears repeating: The stronger the parental message against underage drinking, the less underage drinking takes place.

Wednesday’s topic will be suicide prevention.

Heather Kisselback
Executive Director
The Prevention Council

Reader’s View Strong words to prevent underage drinking

Reader’s View
The Saratogian
Published: Sunday, May 12, 2013

Editor’s note: Over the next five days, The Saratogian will collaborate with the Prevention Council as part of National Prevention Week. This week-long observance is an opportunity to raise awareness about substance abuse and mental health issues, to promote prevention efforts, and to educate our local communities about the factors that influence substance use. Prevention Week celebrates the idea that everyone has a role to play in prevention. And in order to be most effective, prevention should be woven into all aspects of young peoples’ lives.

Over the next five days, we will cover the topics of underage drinking, prescription drug use, the teenage brain, hosting underage parties, suicide prevention, and the relevance of mental, emotional, and behavioral health to substance use and abuse.

Do you think underage drinking is a teenage rite of passage? Prevention Council staff hear the following arguments all the time: If teens can vote or serve in the military at 18, why can’t they drink, too? Or, in Europe, kids are allowed to have wine with dinner and it’s not a problem.

We also hear from well-meaning parents who worry that treating alcohol as a forbidden fruit makes it that much more enticing. By forbidding it, parents worry their teens won’t be prepared for social drinking when they leave home after graduation. If we host a party ourselves, the thinking goes, at least we’ll know where our kids are.

Here’s the thing: Over and over, in school districts throughout Saratoga County, student and parent survey results show that the stronger the parental message against underage drinking, the less drinking takes place. International research bears this out, too: Kids who believe their parents would strongly disapprove of their using substances are less likely to use them.

In the middle school grades, our tweens get this message loud and clear. Parents are dead set against alcohol experimentation, and kids know it.

But in high school, when parents start having angst about whether to say “no” altogether or attempt to teach responsible drinking habits, teens detect this waffling. And the absence of strong condemnation is treated as blanket approval.

Here’s what we know from Prevention Council survey data collected in 2010:

• 50 percent of Saratoga County 11-12th graders drink alcohol regularly, exceeding the NYS rate of 44 percent.

• 33 percent of Saratoga County 11-12th graders are binge drinking, exceeding the NYS rate of 28 percent. (Binge drinking is 4 to 5 or more drinks at one social setting.)

• Parents vastly underestimate their teens’ drinking habits.

We also know that teens who use alcohol are much more likely to experience sexual assaults and fights, accidents, alcohol poisoning, and lower school performance. Youth who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol addiction than those who start drinking at 21, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And in answer to those questions about voting and the military? Recent research has shown that the adolescent brain doesn’t finish developing until age 25. We now know that underage drinking damages important brain functions. Just because an 18-year-old has the skills and judgment to vote or perform military service doesn’t mean he’s mature on all fronts.

And what about those European teens who drink wine with dinner?

Research has shown that they are much more likely to binge drink when they’re out with their friends. On the whole, teen binge drinking rates in Europe far exceed our binge drinking rates in the US.

This is a perfect example of how condoning even moderate alcohol use is a very slippery slope. Teens interpret that leeway very loosely. Even if you take away everyone’s keys at an underage drinking party in your home, the message you send by allowing underage drinking at all puts your child at risk for serious heavy drinking — later, elsewhere, in places where you won’t be there to supervise.

Right now is the perfect time to send a strong message against underage drinking. It’s spring and there’s celebration in the air. Proms, graduations, sports banquets, and barbecues are blocked out on our busy calendars. Believe it or not, parents, you are still the most powerful influence in your child’s life — greater than peers, popular music, television, celebrities and the media. Youth who consistently learn about the risks of drugs from their parents are half as likely to use drugs and alcohol than those who do not. So no waffling. Wield your influence wisely. Tomorrow’s topic will be prescription drugs.

For more information, go to www.preventioncouncil. org.

Heather Kisselback
Executive Director
The Prevention Council

Dangerous Ways Teens are Getting Drunk and High

FOX23 News
February 21, 2013

When it comes to the latest trends of teens drinking and getting high, some of the ways alcohol is being manipulated will shock you.

Plus, the products kids are using are likely on your grocery list.

74 percent of high school seniors in Saratoga County alone admit they have used alcohol, according to a survey conducted by the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council.

But how they’re getting drunk and high is a lot more dangerous than you may think.

“I got tired of the things that I felt from smoking weed and drinking and I just wanted to experience something that I had never felt before,” says a teen who used.

“Jason” is 23-years-old and started getting high off cough syrup when he was 18. NEWS10 agreed to hide his identity.

“There was a period of time that I was using cough every day for about a month,” he says. “I felt as if I was having an out-of-body experience.”

Students from a Saratoga County high schools say they know people like Jason.

“I think the issues have increased and they’re going to be bored with the regular ways to get high and drunk by the time they get to high school,” says one student. “You have sixth and seventh graders who are participating in these activities.”

Gail Moore, the Outpatient Program Director at the Addictions Care Center in Albany says teens are looking for newer and more experimental ways to get drunk and high.

“We’re seeing kids in the suburbs who are really bored, will put anything in their bodies,” says Moore.

One of those things is hand sanitizer – made up of 65 percent alcohol. It’s being distilled with salt, filtered, and then consumed.

“When you take in these products, you’re not just taking in the ethyl alcohol,” says Dr. Jill Braverman-Panza. “Things have other things put in them like hand sanitizers, have benzyl chromium chloride to stop you from drinking them.”

Another option is gummie bears and hard candy soaked in vodka, alcoholic whipped cream, or Jason’s choice, cough syrup.

“I didn’t know anything about addiction,” he says. “I didn’t see myself becoming an addict. I thought everyone was doing it and that I would be able to use and have fun, but if I needed to stop I could just stop. But there was no stopping.”

So what do you do as a parent?

Experts say it may seem simple, but monitor your medicine cabinet.

Plus, irritability is a big sign of cough syrup use. Experts say a hangover from cough syrup is actually worse than a hangover from drinking alcohol.

With so many variables now involved that go beyond just a bottle of alcohol, parents have a lot more to learn.

“It’s a dangerous experimentation, you’re playing with your life,” says Jason, who is now a recovering heroine addict at 23-years-old.

He says within two years, the cough syrup use led to cocaine, prescription pills, and finally heroine.

He is now clean and in an addictions care center with a felony record; but sober and resolves to remain that way.

Law enforcement cracking down on underage drinking during prom, graduation season

May 21, 2012

By Michael Cignoli
The Saratogian

BALLSTON SPA — Local law enforcement officials have a message for graduating high school seniors: if their graduation celebrations include alcohol, a diploma may not be the only piece of paper they receive.

Saratoga County STOP-DWI Coordinator Robert Murphy said police will be on the lookout for, and ticketing, underage drinkers during all local graduation ceremonies and post-graduation parties.

Addressing the Saratoga County Traffic Safety Board Monday afternoon, Murphy said overtime funding for the additional police presence has been authorized through the county’s STOP-DWI program, which is funded through fines paid by convicted drunken drivers.

Murphy said additional overtime has been authorized to allow officers to combat driving while intoxicated over Memorial Day weekend.

The move comes on the heels of the program’s authorization of additional police overtime during high school prom season — which stretches into mid-June — and law enforcement agencies throughout the county stepping up their presence to deter underage drinking and drunken driving.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department reported no arrests related to Saturday night’s Saratoga Springs High School prom, city police Sgt. Andrew Prestigiacomo said. But there were some driving while intoxicated arrests over the weekend, he said.

Murphy said law enforcement agencies throughout the county relayed similar messages following proms in their areas, the bulk of which were held this past Friday and Saturday. Ballston Spa and Shenendehowa will host their senior proms next month, but Murphy said the results thus far have been encouraging.

“It was really good,” Murphy said. “All of the schools made an effort and worked together.”

Murphy is now hoping for a similar effort during next month’s graduations. Ten schools have clustered their graduations between June 21 and 23, while Mechanicville’s is slated for June 30.

Officers are not as worried about drinking at the graduation ceremonies themselves as they are about the after-parties, Murphy said.

Local teen recognized 
The Traffic Safety Board on Thursday also recognized Ballston Spa High School junior Katy Stringer, one of six winners in a statewide “Save Your Friend’s Life Over the Airwaves” contest.Stringer produced a 30-second public service announcement on the dangers of drowsy driving that will air on three local radio stations to promote safe driving among teens.Drivers ages 16 and 17 cause approximately 140 drowsy driving crashes each year, according to the state Association of Traffic Safety Boards, the contest’s sponsor.

Murphy, who said drowsy driving can be just as dangerous as driving under the influence, presented Stringer with a $200 check that Ballston Spa’s Class of 2013 can use to fund things like safe post-prom activities.

Shen teens tackle drinking, drug problems

December 7, 2011
By Innae Park
YNN News

To see video coverage, click here.

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — In a time when underage drinking and drug abuse is prevalent, some teens from Shenendehowa High School are taking a stand.

At a discussion organized by the school PTA and the Shenendehowa Community Coalition Wednesday night, a panel of seven students completely opened up, answering any and all questions parents had about alcohol and drug abuse in their school.

A survey done in 2008 shows the “past 30 day alcohol use rate” for Shen’s seniors is much higher than the national average: 64 percent, compared to 43 percent.

The binge drinking rates also exceed the state numbers: 43 percent, compared to 28 percent.

Those who attended this meeting are hoping to find answer to change those figures.

Twelfth grader Joe Kelly suggested, “Maybe put drug classes into the school itself, not just health class. If you get suspended, you now have to attend this class, this amount of days, because you did this, you know, something with a little more background behind it, like problems it leads to the body, not just what you did and now you’re gone.”

Craig Masterman is a member of the Shenendehowa Community Coalition and also has three children attending school in the district.

“I think it’s important we educate parents. Parents have to be actively involved in their children’s lives. If they’re not, then there’s not a lot of hope in the world,” Masterman said.

The Coalition also hopes to implement “social host legislation” in the state, which would penalize hosts who have underage drinking on their property. With winter break on the horizon and the potential for more underage drinking parties, the group is urging families to be aware of these issues.

To learn more about the Shenendehowa Community Coalition, visit www.preventioncouncil.org.

Shen Coalition promotes Social Host legislation

As the winter holidays approach, communities need to be alert to underage drinking. Whether its college students reconnecting with high school friends, teens with greater accessibility to liquor cabinets well stocked for holiday celebrations, or youth attending drinking parties over the school vacation – underage alcohol use predictably increases this time of year.

The Shenendehowa Community Coalition encourages legislators in New York to take a serious look at what is commonly referred to as social host legislation. Twenty-seven states nationwide have already passed a statewide social host law, including our neighbors Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The cost of underage drinking in NYS is just too high, both in terms of adolescent health risks and actual taxpayer dollars, to overlook legislation that directly targets the source of most teen alcohol use.

What is social host legislation? Local surveys show that rather than trying to buy it themselves, most youth who drink get alcohol from a social host — friends over age 21, sneaking it from home, or house parties. “Social host” refers to the person responsible for the location where underage drinking occurs. While existing law makes it illegal to sell or serve alcohol to minors, social host legislation extends clear responsibility to those individuals who allow underage drinking. This includes parents who are present but deny knowledge of drinking on their property or who leave teens at home unsupervised in spite of a history of underage drinking parties. It would also include college students who allow underage youth to participate in parties in their leased homes or apartments.

The law is not intended to apply to unwitting landowners who are truly unaware but to adults who demonstrate a pattern of negligence towards underage alcohol use on their property. Social host legislation serves a deterrent effect, encouraging property owners to prevent such parties.

Surveys show worrisome levels of underage alcohol use, including binge drinking, in Saratoga County. Rates are significantly above national and state averages. High school students, in focus groups conducted in 2009, said that underage drinking is “mainstream” and mostly occurs at house parties. 80% of kids who drank alcohol said they did so “at someone’s home.” By grades 11-12, binge drinking rates among youth in southern Saratoga County exceed the state by over 14 percentage points (43.4% vs. 28.2%). Tellingly, 12th graders in focus groups deny much binge drinking occurs until it was defined for them as 5 or more drinks in a row.

This reveals that binge drinking is actually very common and that, in fact, 5 drinks is viewed by most as moderate alcohol consumption. A 2004 publication of the National Academies of Sciences finds that underage house parties are high risk settings for binge drinking and associated alcohol problems. Very young drinkers are often introduced to heavy drinking behaviors at these events.

According to the Surgeon General, there are 5,000 deaths per year in the U.S. among young people under 21 as a result of alcohol use. No parent wants their child to have an alcohol problem, be involved in an alcohol-related crash or sexual assault, fall out a window during spring break, or suffer from alcohol poisoning. Yet, many adults dismiss underage drinking as a “rite of passage” or “kids will be kids.” Unfortunately, however, teens experience a wide range of problems when they are involved with alcohol and binge drinking. Fights, injuries, regretted sexual encounters, and property damage are directly connected to teen alcohol use. Regular use before age 15 leads to a five-fold increase in the likelihood of future alcohol abuse problems over those who delay drinking until age 21.

There are financial costs associated with underage drinking as well. In 2007, according to the NYS Office on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the state spent over $3.4 billion to address problems related to adolescent alcohol use. This includes $230 million for youth alcohol treatment, $128 million for property damage costs, and $119 million associated with injuries youth suffered while under the influence of alcohol.

Communities have options for reducing underage drinking and its dangerous consequences, and no one strategy is the answer. The greatest impact comes when a community delivers a consistent message about teen alcohol use. A social host law provides law enforcement officials an important tool to prevent tragedy rather than react to it. It assists both the adult and the child to make wise decisions. Finally, social host legislation reinforces a consistent message that underage drinking is unhealthy, unsafe and unacceptable.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Evan Williamson
Coalition Coordinator

Evan Williamson coordinates the Shenendehowa Community Coalition, an initiative of the Saratoga County Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council located in Saratoga Springs, NY. The Shenendehowa Community Coalition was formed in 2006 to build a community environment that promotes healthy development and growth for youth. In partnership with the school district, the coalition conducts surveys and focus groups with middle and high school students annually.

Join the coalition at Shenendehowa East High School Library on Wednesday, December 7 at 7:00 p.m., for a high school-aged panel on underage drinking and a community discussion of social host legislation. For more information, contact Mr. Williamson at 581-1230.

County survey hopes to curb teen drinking

Thursday, August 25, 2011

By GLENN GRIFFITH
Community News

A survey is underway in southern Saratoga County to assess the extent of underage drinking and teen binge drinking.

The survey is being promoted by the Shenendehowa Community Coalition with an $800,000 grant from the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services. The state agency is managing a much larger $8.2 million federal grant that is being distributed across the state to 10 other community coalitions for the same purpose.

The three-year local grant allows the Coalition to present the survey to adults and students and analyze the results. Once the survey is completed Oct. 31 a base line will be drawn from the results.

During the following two years the Coalition will take those results and draw up a set of actions that will change behavior and educate the community in an effort to reduce underage and binge drinking among the area’s teens.

The survey is anonymous and is available in hard copy form and online. Shenendehowa School students from seventh through 12th grades will be asked to take the survey in their gym classes shortly after school starts.

Online versions of the survey have already been emailed to all parents registered with the school’s Parent Portal.

The Shenendehowa Community Coalition is a six-year-old collection of local groups and individuals interested in reducing and preventing risky behaviors among youth such as substance abuse, violence and problem gambling. The organization works to correct this behavior by developing community partnerships that utilize accurate data and implement proven strategies. Coalition members include parents, students, community organizations, and faith-based groups. The Coalition’s single paid staff member is coordinator Evan Williamson.

“A survey taken a couple of years ago at Shen showed there was a high level of underage drinking going on among students and from that we know Shen has above state average with teen binge drinking,” he said. “The grant will be used to help change certain activities and educate parents and students. But we need a baseline first. In many cases the parents’ ideas of teen drinking differ from what the kids know is actually going on.”

The Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services website notes that research proves that to effectively change attitudes, perception, and behavior, prevention strategies must include a comprehensive approach that addresses both the individual and the environment.

On its website the agency’s commissioner Arlene González-Sanchez is quoted as saying, “There is strong evidence that the earlier in life a person starts drinking alcohol, the more likely he or she is to have alcohol‑related problems throughout life. Community leaders have a critical role in shaping the environment to prevent underage drinking, and can guide adolescents through this very important period in their lives.”

Williamson pointed to one survey’s help in the reduction of meth labs. By simply changing the store locations of certain ingredients used in the production of meth, based on the results of the survey, meth production was reduced, he said.

“The Shenendehowa Community Coalition is focused on anything that hinders student health and that includes marijuana use, acts of risky behavior like underage drinking, or prescription medication abuse,” Williamson said. “What we’re trying to do with the survey is get a vast cross section of the community.”

Depending on what the data shows Williamson said years two and three might include educational pieces to students and parents, partnering with the Shen athletic department, partnering with Saratoga County, changing Shen’s policies on minors in possession, more compliance checks, or revising the social host laws.

“This is about protecting (young) people and having them make good choices,” he said. “It’s about changing their environment so it supports them being safe.”

The survey may be found at: http://edu.surveygizmo.com/S3/538756/NYprevention. The survey is also to be linked to the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County’s website and the town of Clifton Park’s.

Hard copies of the survey are available in the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library and the Shenendehowa Adult Community Center.

Graduation rites should never include drinking

June 19, 2011
Reader’s View
The Saratogian

Graduation season is here, and with it come graduation parties and a perennial question: Should parents help their children learn how to drink responsibly by allowing them to drink at home with supervision? According to new research, the answer is a definite no.

Many parents believe that if their kids have had no experience with alcohol before leaving home that they’ll drink to excess in college and put themselves at risk for alcohol poisoning, sexual abuse and who knows what other scary situations. But studies show this is false.

People often point to the more permissive drinking attitude in Europe as proof that allowing some underage drinking leads to less binge drinking by taking away alcohol’s “mystique.” But that’s simply not true.

The majority of European countries have a higher rate of teen drunkenness than the United States. In fact, a Dutch study on the “European drinking model,” in which kids grow up with a glass of wine around the family dinner table, has found that the more teens drink at home, the more likely they are to drink outside of the home and develop drinking problems later in life.

Twenty years ago, we didn’t know how badly teens’ brains were affected by alcohol. We now know that some of the last regions of the brain to mature are those that regulate judgment, critical thinking skills and memory. These are the areas most likely to be damaged by early alcohol use — especially heavy use.

Heavy alcohol use is common, especially among college students. Locally, 30 percent of grade 11 and 12 students at Saratoga Springs High School reported binge drinking in the past month. That’s 5 or more drinks in a row for boys, 4 or more in a row for girls.

A Penn State researcher recently found that the more parents condone underage alcohol use, the more kids drink. And conversely, when parents have a zero tolerance alcohol policy for kids, the less kids drink or binge drink in college. The study found that parents’ values and expectations still matter to kids, even when they leave home.

Study after study has shown that the best thing parents can do to prevent their children from drinking heavily at college, or from developing long-term drinking and learning and memory problems, is to promote a zero-tolerance drinking policy with their kids and to model responsible adult drinking behavior.

Heather Kisselback is executive director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council, which has its office in Saratoga Springs.

Two high school students hospitalized, 21 disciplined following underage drinking at SSHS dance

March 9, 2011
By EMILY DONOHUE
The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two high school students were hospitalized and 21 have since been disciplined following underage drinking during a dance at Saratoga Springs High School Friday night.

In a press release, high school principal Brett Miller said the school takes the situation “very seriously.”

“We’re concerned about our students and want to ensure a safe environment for them.”

At around 8 p.m. Friday city emergency officials received two separate calls regarding intoxicated students at the high school. Reports of a “highly intoxicated 14-year-old female” and another regarding a 14-year-old who had consumed “half a bottle of vodka” were heard over the police scanner that night.

Saratoga Springs Police Lt. Greg Veitch said the matter is still under investigation. “It is our understanding that the alcohol consumption happened off campus,” he said, adding that police are investigating where the students drank and how they obtained the alcohol.

According to Miller, the two students transported to Saratoga Hospital from the dance were treated, released and are in good health.

The press release states that those students are believed to have been drinking prior to the dance.

Veitch said he could not release any further information about the students involved because of their age.

“We’ve had numerous meetings with students and parents, and most have been very supportive,” Miller said.

In the same release, Superintendent Dr. Janice White said underage drinking “is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated. Our schools and all school activities are expected to be safe places for students, staff and the entire community.”

White also highlighted the school district’s history of offering programs for students and parents that focus on the hazards of substance abuse, including a 10-year collaborative effort with the Saratoga Partnership for Prevention, which provides ongoing services aimed at substance abuse prevention.

On March 10 the district will offer a program on prescription drug abuse in teens through its Parent University. The program will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center.

More information on that program is available at http://www. saratogaschools.org/Parents andCommunity/ParentUniversity/PU_March_workshop_Rx-drugs.pdf.