DA teams up with alcohol counselors

By LOHR McKINSTRY
Staff Writer

May 14, 2008 04:00 am

— 80% of Essex County teens have tried alcohol, study indicates
ELIZABETHTOWN -- The Essex County District Attorney's Office has partnered with county substance-abuse counselors to try to head off teenage drinking before the courts get involved.
DA Julie Garcia said they've created BEST -- Bringing Essex County's Strengths Together -- to work on the problem.
MAJOR PROBLEM'
Garcia said surveys done by the Essex County Prevention Team, headquartered in Ticonderoga, revealed that 80 percent of the county's teens had sampled alcoholic beverages.
The state average is 35 percent, she said.
"In Essex County, this is not a small problem. Underage drinking in Essex County is a major problem."
The results of the survey of schools in the county was startling, Garcia said.
"That's 80 percent of the kids in the county. We are almost triple the state average in Essex County for underage drinking."
COMMUNITY MEETINGS
So far, the BEST program seems to be effective, she said.
"It's been going strong. We're raising awareness of underage drinking in Essex County."
Garcia said they're going to special community meetings and the Youth Opportunity Fair in Lake Placid to talk about the problem.
"This problem is a community problem. It has to be addressed from every angle. It needs the attention of every single one of us. Until we start addressing this problem, we're going to have reports like this."
The Ticonderoga-Putnam-Hague Connecting Youth and Communities program is also involved and will be hosting community meetings on the issue.
They worked together to bring a display to Ticonderoga High School before prom, Connecting Youth and Communities Director Kristi Mars said.
"The One Second Display' is an exhibit that was developed in close collaboration with parents of two teens who tragically lost their lives in Franklin County due to underage drinking," she said.
LOSS of student
The problem hit home when a Ticonderoga High School junior, Shannon James, was killed in what police say was an alcohol-related car crash on the Ticonderoga-Putnam town line last month.
"In light of the recent tragic loss of one of our own, the opportunity to come together as a community in a Town Hall meeting is a chance to discuss what we can do as a community to help end underage drinking," Mars said.
One Town Hall meeting was held Tuesday in the Ticonderoga High School auditorium, and others will be scheduled.
TARGETING RISKS
Ticonderoga Supervisor Robert C. Dedrick said Connecting Youth and Communities was created three years ago as a result of some of the school survey results on drinking and other teenage problems.
"We identified the risk factors. We developed a strategy based on those risk factors. I can see the fruits of our labor. It's making a difference. The attitude of those kids has changed."
Garcia said they have to do something now or a generation of problem drinkers is coming.
"They're growing into alcoholics in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Alcoholism is a disease.
"Young teenage girls are being taken advantage of because someone is under the influence of alcohol or drugs," he added.
Douglas Terbeek is director of the Prevention Team that did the annual prevention survey in schools.
"We have rates and statistics that are pretty stark," he said. "There are identifiable risk factors we can address, peer attitudes and behaviors that exists in our families, our community and our schools."
ACTION PLANNED
Terbeek said the survey results are being used to target the issues that affect underage alcohol consumption.
"It will have an impact on the high rates of teen drinking."
As a result of the survey, they will provide more training for retailers on "how to not sell to underage drinkers," he said.
Essex County Clerk Joseph Provoncha said the Stop-DWI program he manages has been applying for grants to fight teen drinking.
"We fund Stop-DWI. We fund after-prom parties. We buy equipment for state troopers and local justice courts."
Moriah Town Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava said underage drinking is not only high but seems to be going up.
"The numbers the DA provided us with are shocking, to say the least," Scozzafava said. "I wonder if the problem is continuing to escalate?"
Terbeek said underage drinking went down in the 1980s but now has gone up and is staying about the same.
"There's an ebb and flow. Binge drinking has not been impacted by prevention services."
Binge drinking is defined as someone consuming four to five drinks within two hours.
Scozzafava said he's read that part of the problem was created when the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21.
"I'm not advocating changing the drinking age. I think it's (teen drinking) a serious issue that needs to be looked at."
The government says 18-year-olds are old enough to fight in Iraq, but too young to drink alcohol, he noted.
"I know I could be held out to dry on this, (but) I have people in the Town of Moriah who went to Iraq, came home and couldn't drink."
Garcia said they're getting into the schools now to talk directly to the kids. She intends to enlist the support of members of the County Board of Supervisors and will ask to be put on meeting agendas.
"We're going to talk about this. This is one of the most serious problems we face in Essex County."
lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com

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