• The 2006 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) reported that 54% of Androscoggin County students in grades eight through twelve have tried alcohol.
• 33.6% of teens said they drank within one month of the survey, and 17.8% reported binge drinking (five or more alcoholic beverages in a row) within two weeks of the survey.¹
• New research indicates that teens who begin drinking at an early age experience real change in the way their brain functions. In fact, 40% of kids who begin drinking before age 15 will develop alcohol abuse or dependence at some point in their lives.²
• Lifetime use of other drugs, including crack, cocaine, heroin, stimulants and painkillers, is higher in Androscoggin County (15.4) that in Maine (14.3%).³
• Youth Inhalant use is higher in our county (13.5%) than in Maine (12.1%).¹

How Healthy Androscoggin is Meeting the Challenge

Project Unite, Healthy Androscoggin's community-based substance abuse prevention steering committee is working on several initiatives to curb youth substance use. There is representation from school substance abuse counselors, law enforcement, social service, treatment providers, parents, school administrators, school resource officers, district attorney's office, business leaders, and many others.

• Diversion Program
  • Offered once per month, the Saturday Diversion Program is an educational alternative for first-time juvenile offenders charged with civil violations for alcohol, tobacco and marijuana violations and/or violations of school substance use policies. Police Departments, police officers, juvenile detectives, probation officers, school resource officers, school substance abuse counselors, school administrators, judges, district attorneys and parents ALL play a part in the success of this program.
• Collaboration with Local Law Enforcement Reduce Youth Access to Alcohol
• Party Patrols - Patrols by local law enforcement during high use times such as sporting events, holidays, proms and graduation.
• Store Surveillance - Monitoring store parking lots for those over 21 that are purchasing alcohol for those under 21.
• Investigations - Investigating underage drinking incidences to determine the source of the alcohol.
• Compliance Checks -Identifying alcohol establishments that sell alcohol to underage youth and to enforce state statutes. We also use compliance checks as an educational tool for merchants and other liquor licensees.
• Responsible Retailing
• Healthy Androscoggin offers a free one-hour consultation , on-site and at the business's convenience, to review and establish policies and practices that prevent underage sales of alcohol and tobacco.
• State-approved Server/Seller Trainings are offered annually to promote responsible sale of alcohol and tobacco by store clerks, managers, and wait-staff.
• To find out more about Responsible Retailing programs email Healthy Androscoggin.

• Awareness Campaigns
• Parents Who Host, Lose the Most, a campaign to create awareness about the consequences of furnishing alcohol or furnishing a place for minors to consume, is implemented each year around prom and graduation season.
• Find Out More, Do More, is a campaign promoting parent monitoring designed by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse.
• Substance Abuse Resource Guide
• Androscoggin County Substance Abuse Prevention Plan: A Guide to Action for our Community

¹ Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol use Survey, 2006, Maine Office of Substance Abuse
² Grant BE, Dawson DA 1997. Age of onset of alcohol use and association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 9:103-110.
³ Maine Office of Substance Abuse, Maine General Population Survey, 2004