Survey shows youth drug use plagues area

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Despite stepped-up efforts by law enforcement, underage drinking, tobacco and other drug use continues to plague Piscataquis County, according to a recently completed survey.

It appears to some that these substances are an accepted use among the county’s youth, a mind-set that Mayo Regional Hospital’s Counseling Program and the Piscataquis Public Health Council hope to change.

The two organizations have joined efforts to look at the problem and find solutions.

“How to translate what we know about the problem and what we know about possible solutions to that and make a difference is a very difficult thing to get one’s arms around,” Tom Lizotte, Mayo Regional Hospital’s director of marketing and development, said Thursday.

What the local organizations have learned is that adult role modeling is key to changing attitudes, but they have found that some adults are reluctant to help, according to Lizotte.

The hospital’s counseling program has approached community residents to serve as role models, but have found few takers, he said.

In a recent survey done funded by Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse, seven out of nine residents interviewed in Piscataquis County said that underage drinking is a serious problem, and eight out of nine people said that youth tobacco use is a serious problem.

Piscataquis County used to have the worst record in the state as far as the numbers of youngsters involved in alcohol, but because of stricter enforcement by the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department and local police departments, a turnaround has been made, according to Lt. Robert Young of the sheriff’s department. Rather than the problem getting worse as it has in most other counties, it has improved but still remains a serious problem, he said Thursday.

Based on Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse, Piscataquis County has a higher than state average of youth alcohol-related arrests, according to Robin Mayo of the Piscataquis Public Health Council. The data also showed that drug law violations are below state average for youth, but significantly higher for adults.

School administrators are taking tobacco, drug and alcohol use seriously and have clear policies to deal with violators, according to the local survey. What they have found is that most use and abuse takes place off school grounds and not on school time. As a result, it is important that the issue is viewed as a broader community and family issue, with very real law enforcement consequences, according to Mayo.

When asked what causes underage drinking, the survey respondents cited peer pressure, easy availability, boredom, poor economy and the fact that people are willing to buy these substances for youth.

Some suggestions made by those who participated in the survey to help prevent alcohol and tobacco use by youth included confronting people about their behavior, creating stronger consequences for people who provide alcohol to youth, stricter enforcement and that children need to be taught to be reflective and analytical of personal behavior.

Risk factors that Mayo Regional Hospital’s Counseling Program and the Piscataquis Public Health Council will address are strategies that change community norms and reduce drug and alcohol accessibility to youth, according to Mayo.

Anyone interested in helping to address tobacco and alcohol use by youth in the community, should contact Renee Tash at 564-4276 or Robin Mayo at 564-4344.