Adult "Role Modeling" noted important to healthy youth development in Piscataquis County

Dover-Foxcroft – Mayo Regional Hospital's Counseling Program and the Piscataquis Public Health Council (PPHC), our region's Healthy Maine Partnership has teamed up to look at alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use in Piscataquis County youth.

Funding for this assessment was made possible through Maine's Office of Substance Abuse (OSA). The assessment process looked at Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) data, community interviews with schools, parks and recreation, and law enforcement, and community focus groups were conducted that included youth, parents, grandparents, and professionals.

According to the MYDAUS County Reports on 30-day use of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and binge drinking ninth grade appears to be the year of increased use and experimentation. In looking at which substance (tobacco or alcohol) appears to be more of a problem at an earlier age in Piscataquis County, the data indicates that cigarettes are the bigger problem because more youth are using earlier; however, alcohol poses the most immediate and catastrophic level of risk.

Based on the OSA Indicator Data, Piscataquis County has a higher than state average of youth alcohol related arrests. The data also showed that Drug Law violations are below state average for youth, but significantly higher for adults.

Risk factors that were identified for Piscataquis County include ease of access to drugs, community norms tolerant of use, economic and social deprivation, family history of substance abuse, parental attitudes accepting of drug use, and early initiation to alcohol or drug use.

Based on the community interviews with schools, parks and recreation, and law enforcement professionals, 7 out of 9 indicated that underage drinking is a serious problem in Piscataquis County; and 8 out of 9 indicated that youth tobacco use is a serious problem in Piscataquis County.

All schools take these issues seriously and all have clear policies to deal with these issues, according to area superintendents. School policies commonly utilize consequences, education and parental involvement with each incident. Police are usually involved at the discretion of the administrator – depending on the circumstances. Schools recognize that their influence has limitations because they can only impact this issue while youth are on school grounds or involved in school activities. Most use/abuse takes place off school grounds and not on school time. Parks and recreation interviews indicated that use/abuse in parks is almost non-existent in our County. Most use by youth takes place in private homes or deep in rural areas. As a result, it is important that the issue is viewed as a broader community and family issue, with very real law enforcement consequences.

Law enforcement policies are generally consistent across the county. Parents are always informed and citations are issued for alcohol and tobacco use by minors. However, buyers of alcohol are the most difficult to target and appear to be plentiful. Enforcement resources are readily accessible. Parents can contribute to underage drinking by indifference or actual support of behaviors, according to the study results. At the same time, parents are often one of the most powerful determinant of effective interventions.

The focus groups participated in very open and candid discussions around the issues of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. From these discussions the Piscataquis Public Health Council and Mayo Regional Hospital's Counseling Program obtained the following information:

1. Youth obtain alcohol and tobacco products from friends and relatives, at parties, and taken from parents without parental consent.
2. Settings in which youth are most commonly found to be drinking alcohol or using tobacco products is at friend's homes, in vehicles, and in their own homes.
3. When asked is underage drinking a serious problem in your community, several observations were made including "use by youth appears to be high" and "youth using is not considered a big deal by itself – but drinking and driving is the thing to be concerned about". Some participants considered "any use by youth as a significant problem".
4. When asked what do you think causes underage drinking, participants noted "peer pressure and easy availability", "Lack of things to do-boredom", "culture of acceptance of kids using, by both youth and adults", "few strong DO NOT DRINK messages for many kids", "Economy and poverty of many people in the area", and "many people willing to buy for youth – motivated by various reasons."
5. When asked what messages are youth getting from the community about drinking, the major themes that emerged were "drinking and driving is not acceptable", "its acceptable to use because use is so common among peers and adults", and "Excessive use is not a big deal because many adults do it"
6. When asked what are the barriers to solving the problem of alcohol use by youth, participants suggested that "use is part of the local culture, both for youth and adults," "Parents and other significant adults are not providing expectations, examples, and consequences for youth using."
7. When asked for suggestions for preventing alcohol and tobacco use by youth, the groups concluded that "confronting kids' use behavior," "creating stronger consequences for people who provide alcohol to youth", "Stricter enforcement", "Consistent community messages about not using", "relating smoking and alcohol use to individual health and happiness", "showing consequences of smoking and alcohol use, make it personal", "Teaching kids to be reflective and analytical of personal behavior", "Teaching your kids and grandkids", and "Talking about it."

The Piscataquis Public Health Council is one of 31 local Healthy Maine Partnerships, working on tobacco-prevention and control, physical activity and nutrition using tobacco settlement funds provided through the Fund for a Healthy Maine.

If you would like more information about how you can get involved in addressing tobacco and alcohol use by youth in your community, please contact either Renee Tash, Mayo Regional Hospital's Counseling Program at rtash@mayohospital.com, 564-4276 or Robin Mayo, Community Partnership Director, Piscataquis Public Health Council at rmayo@mayohospital.com, 564-4344.