OLD TOWN – Seven communities along the Penobscot River have joined forces to prevent teenage drinking and smoking.

Two programs are being implemented simultaneously. Old Town’s River Coalition has started a project involving the surrounding communities of Alton, Bradley, Greenbush, Milford and Indian Island to form a community board for a Communities That Care prevention-planning system.

Funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Drug Abuse are paying for the Communities That Care program through The University of Washington’s Diffusion Consortium Project. There are 24 member communities across the nation.

Orono residents have joined with the River Coalition communities, Orono’s police, fire, school and recreation departments and the University of Maine to receive One ME – Stand United for Prevention grant funding from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse. One ME is a statewide program funded with tobacco settlement money.

Both programs aim to stop alcohol and tobacco use among youth 12 to 17.

Orono survey results that indicate “there was strong use among high school students of alcohol and tobacco” last year and that chewing tobacco use was above the state average alarmed residents, said Norm Poirier, director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Orono.

He said the results indicate area youth are partaking in risky and sometimes dangerous activities.

Both programs assess a community to find out what assets and shortcomings it has, then implements specific programs to address the issues raised.

The Communities That Care system is comprehensive and strives to be inclusive and proactive when dealing with youth issues, said Kathryn McGloin, spokesperson for the One ME program and local coordinator for Communities That Care.

Communities That Care promotes healthy community development and targets problem indicators, rather than waiting until they occur, McGloin said.

Old Town’s River Coalition will receive $75,000 in funding for five years from the University of Washington starting the second year of the Communities That Care program to implement strategies. Camden is another Maine community involved.

“It’s all about mobilizing our community to utilize resources for preventing juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, school dropouts, teen pregnancy and violence,” said McGloin.

Through the One ME program, the River Coalition will receive $153,000 a year for three years from federal tobacco funds that are filtered through the Maine Office of Substance Abuse.

“Orono gets one-third of that,” said McGloin. “That’s quite a chunk of cash to do prevention work for Orono’s youth.”

Orono already completed its community assessment and program leaders have decided to focus on strengthening community and family, said McGloin.

Right now Orono is looking at six One ME programs and needs to pare it to three. All have measurable results.

“Some of them have parental involvement, some of them don’t, and some are geared more toward the youth and after-school time and activities,” said Poirier. “Others are aimed at the entire community. Another includes their home life, including how parents, aunts and uncles view and react to the use of alcohol and the use of tobacco.”

The Communities That Care program is a registered product of the Channing Bete Co. Inc., based in South Deerfield, Mass.

For more information, contact McGloin at 827-8744.