Maine – Teen Alcohol Use and Alcohol Abuse Written by Karen Corcoran-Walsh

According to a Press Release in March 2009, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Substance Abuse (OSA) conducted a survey in 2008, which reports that alcohol use among Maine’s 6-12th graders has been declining, Between the years 2006 -2008, Maine has seen a continuous decline in alcohol use and abuse among Maine’s adolescents.

“The percent of teens that used alcohol in the past month decreased from 38 percent in 1995 to 25 percent in 2008, and binge drinking in the prior two weeks decreased from 20 percent to 13 percent. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks in a row.”

According to Maine’s OSA, this recent decline in teen alcohol abuse is the largest decrease in student use in the last 10 years. Maine attributes the successful statistics to Maine’s OSA coordination of statewide alcohol prevention plan. The plan encourages schools, parents, employers, law enforcement, the media, and students to work together to change the perceptions of around youth/teen drinking.

The Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) is the tool used to track alcohol and other substance use among 6th through 12th graders.

The 2008 data on alcohol use was collected 75,000 Maine students in 340 schools statewide. According to the 2008 results, factors such as parental expectations and community norms greatly influence student decisions to use alcohol.”

Although the statistics on the decline of adolescent drinking, still one out of four teenagers in Maine continue to use alcohol.

04/14/2010

Corcoran-Walsh, Karen. Apr. 2010. Web. http://www.inspirationsyouth.com/blog/?p=116

What is Alcohol? Background

Alcohol is a drug, and it is the drug most abused by teens. Many kids have their first drink at an early age, as young as 10 or 11.

It's easy for kids and teens to get the wrong message about alcohol. They might see their parents drink, or watch TV commercials that make drinking look like a lot of fun. You might see people drinking and watching sports together or having a big party.

Alcohol is actually a depressant. That means it's a drug that slows down or depresses the brain. Like many drugs, alcohol changes a person's ability to think, speak, and see things as they really are. A person might lose his or her balance and have trouble walking properly. The person might feel relaxed and happy and later start crying or get in an argument.

What Happens When People Drink?

When people drink too much, they might do or say things they don't mean. They might hurt themselves or other people, especially if they drive a car. Someone who drinks too much also might throw up and could wake up the next day feeling awful — that's called a hangover. Drinking too much alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning, which can kill a person.

Being an alcoholic is a person who has little control over his or her drinking and can't stop without help. A person who starts drinking alcohol at a young age is more likely to develop alcoholism.


Alcohol." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Web. 02 June 2010.http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/drugs_alcohol/alcohol.html#

Alcohol by Andrea C. Nakaya (2008)

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human services estimated that each year, approximately 5,000 youths under 21 die as a result of drinking.
  

• The substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA) estimates that in 2004, 28.7 % of youth consumed alcohol in the month prior to being served.

Beyond Experimentation: Teens and Alcoholism

By Paul Wisenthal

Teen alcohol abuse is a tough challenge for many teens and parents to face. Whether you link alcohol abuse and teens together or not, teen alcohol abuse is a very real problem. In this article, we talk to teens who have had trouble with teen alcohol abuse in the past and hope to offer you some insight on the relationship between alcohol abuse and teens.

At age 16, Caitie C. was pulled over by the Laguna Beach Police and spent a night in jail as a result of her first DWI (driving while intoxicated). "I pulled into a little market to use the pay phone, and there were cops sitting in the parking lot as I drove my car into a pole," she said. "They did a Breathalyzer and took me in, handcuffed."

Two years earlier, while living in Westchester, N.Y., Caitie began using alcohol. Having little interest in school and a "wandering mind," she soon found herself hanging out with older kids, drinking heavily at parties, and trying other substances, such as marijuana.
When she was 16, her family moved to Southern California. "I was able to buy booze in California with my fake New York license," she said. "I was able to hide my substance abuse from my parents." Due to her professed lack of interest in school, she was able to start an independent study program, allowing her to do most of her schoolwork from home.

With lots of time on her hands, Caitie was able to party and drink more. She lied to her parents, while struggling to extract money from them to support her habit. Caitie was one of approximately 2-3 million students who abuse substances. Currently, it is estimated by the American Psychological Association that only about 8 percent of these students receive any kind of treatment for their substance abuse problems.
With her family's consent and support, Caitie managed to spend 28 days in rehab at the Hazelden Center for Youth and Families (HCYF) in Minneapolis, Minn.

Now 24, Caitie has been sober for over seven years.

http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/2160/1/Beyond-Experimentation-Teens-and-Alcoholism/Page1.html

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