Communities That Care

Posted on March 24, 2011

Updated Research Report on Marijuana Available

The National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Report series publication on marijuana was updated at the end of 2010 and is now available online.  This revised edition contains updated information and facts about marijuana, including medical use.  You can access the report by going to http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana.

Posted on March 21, 2011

Inhalant Abuse: Right Here Under Our Noses

Did you know that inhalant abuse—also known as “huffing” or “sniffing”—can cause death the first time it is tried?  Did you know that many common household products are among those often abused?  Or that young people may assume that because the products they are inhaling are safe to use in their home, that they won’t hurt them if they are inhaled?

This week (the week of March 21^st) is National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week.  Many people are unaware that inhalant abuse is widespread enough to warrant a national awareness week, but it is.  National surveys have shown that the overall lifetime rate of inhalant use for six to twelve graders is close to 10%.  Data from the 2008 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) showed that the rate for inhalant use in Maine was even higher—10.8%.  In our community rates of use have usually topped the state of Maine averages.  For example, on the 2010 MYDAUS (the most recent data available) rates of having ever used inhalants for grade eight youth was more than 13%.

Inhalants—along with tobacco and alcohol—are one of the substances abused by younger children, and are often the first substance to be abused by a young person.  In our community, the 2010 MYDAUS data showed that use of inhalants was more prevalent than use of prescription drugs to get high for middle school students.  Inhalant abuse was also more common than prescription drug abuse for our grade 10 students.

The chemical fumes, vapors and gasses from more than 1,400 easily accessible toxic items found in homes, schools, and work environments can be used to get high.  These products are generally available, low in cost and are legal to possess.  When inhaled, these chemicals can severely damage many parts of the body, including the nervous system, lungs, liver, kidneys, and even the brain.  The chemicals can take the place of oxygen in the blood and may cause asphyxiation, as well as destroy brain cells.  Long-term inhalant abuse may cause the loss of normal function in arms and legs, and loss of bladder and bowel control. Most of these chemicals are fire hazards and can cause fire or explosion.

Parents and those who regularly work with children should be on the alert for changes in a child’s attitudes and interests, decline in school performance, a disoriented/dazed appearance, slurred speech, and chemical odors on the child’s clothes, breath or backpack.

If you want to find out more about Inhalant abuse and what you can do to prevent it, visit www.inhalantabusetraining.org.  You can also contact Dalene Dutton at Five Town Communities That Care to arrange to attend a local “Inhalants: 101” training; she can be reached by email at dalene@fivetownctc.org or by phone at 236-9800.

Posted on March 17, 2011

Leap into Spring with STAR!

Five Town Communities That Care opens doors to a fresh season of its award-winning STAR after-school program on March 28 (registrations due by March 23rd). This will be the 22st cycle of STAR, which has engaged over half of all the area’s public middle school students since its inception in the spring of 2004. Thanks to robust funding and donorship, the STAR program is offered at no charge to participants and transportation between local public middle schools and program locations is provided.

STAR’s spring offerings include: Aldermere Farm Hands II, Animal Antics, Cooking II, Creative Writing, Digital Photography, Hip Hop, Martial Arts, Pottery, and You + Wild: Adventure Survival Skills. The program, featuring an exciting team of area instructors and support staff, takes place locally at sites such as Aldermere Farms, Camden Hills Regional High School, the Camden Rockport Animal Rescue League, Merryspring Nature Center, the Penobscot Bay YMCA, and the Mid-coast Martial Arts studio at the Midcoast Recreation Center.

Participants join skills-training classes on either Mondays and Wednesdays OR Tuesdays and Thursdays and then come together for group activities on Fun Fridays. Spring 2011 Fun Fridays will include trips to the Freyenhagen Family Maple Farm, The Penobscot Bay YMCA , Merryspring Nature Center and the Teen Center.

Registration packets have been mailed to parents of all grade 5-8 students enrolled in public schools in Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport. Registration packets are also available for middle school students from the Five Towns who attend private schools or who are home schooled by calling the Five Town Communities That Care offices at 236-9800 or emailing star@fivetownctc.org.

The STAR program is made possible by a generous grant from Maine’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group and local donations. For more information about STAR and to download a STAR registration packet, visit http://www.fivetownctc.org/programs/star, call 207-236-9800, or email info@fivetownctc.org.

Posted on March 15, 2011

STAR Celebration Wednesday night (March 16) at Rockport Elementary School

The final celebration for the 21st cycle of the Five Town CTC STAR after-school program will take place at 6PM at the Rockport Elementary School (off Route 90).  All of our winter cycle participants, their families, program staff and volunteers are invited to join us for pizza, awards, and cake.

If you have questions, please contact the STAR program coordinator (Liv LiaBraaten) by calling 975-6722 or 236-9800.

Posted on March 7, 2011

Five Town CTC Honors Youth Advocates

One of the first orders of business at each of the quarterly Five Town Communities That Care Coalition meetings is the bestowing of the Five Town CTC Youth Advocate Awards.  These awards are given each quarter to one individual and one organization who meet one or more of the following criteria:

1)    Involved in reducing problem adolescent behaviors (such as substance abuse, suicide, violence, delinquency, school drop-out, and teen pregnancy) among our local youth.

2)    Involved in reducing the Five Town CTC Coalition’s priority risk factors in the local community.

3)    Involved in promoting the Five Town CTC Coalition’s priority protective factors in the local community.

4)    Involved in fostering increased collaboration and cooperation amongst youth-serving agencies, groups, and businesses in the local community.

5)    Involved in fostering improved communications between local youth and their community—including between youth and adults, and between youth and their peers.

6)    Providing opportunities for area youth to learn new skills that they can use in service to their community.

The current priority Risk Factors (to be reduced) are Low Commitment To School, Rewards For Antisocial Behavior, Family Conflict, and Laws and Norms Favorable To Drug Use.  The current priority Protective Factors (to be increased) are Interaction With Prosocial Peers, Rewards For Prosocial Involvement, Prosocial Involvement, and Community Recognition for Prosocial Involvement.

Nominations for the Youth Advocate Awards are accepted from members of the Coalition on an ongoing basis.  Suggestions for quarterly winners are then brought by the Five Town CTC Coalition Maintenance Work Group to the Five Town CTC Board of Directors for final vote.

At the Wednesday, March 3 Coalition meeting the first pair of 2011 winners—The Community School and Randy Wood—were presented with awards by Five Town CTC Board Chair Richard Strong.  The Community School was honored for its many contributions to youth, in particular its commitment to increasing commitment to school amongst its students.  Residential Program Director Joseph Hufnagel accepted the award on behalf of the school.  STAR Program staff member Randy Wood was honored for his work in providing opportunities for youth to learn new skills in the community.  Wood has been part of the staff for the after-school program since the fall of 2008, meeting students at their schools, riding the buses to the program sites, and helping in various classes each cycle.

Joseph Hufnagel (left) of the Community School and Randy Wood with their 2011 Five Town Communities That Care Youth Advocate Awards (photo by Peter Russell).