Fighting Substance Abuse––

Prevention Panel Works

On An Action Plan

By Larissa Lytwyn

In response to recent drug-related arrests, Newtown Prevention Council is creating an “action plan” to merge community efforts into a coordinated network of preventative and treatment information.

The plan, added to the agenda just a few days before the council’s monthly meeting November 20, attracted nearly two dozen residents.

Newtown Public Schools’ Health Coordinator Judy Blanchard discussed the need to integrate the district’s 2002 substance abuse survey, grades 7 through 12, part of the Governor’s Prevention Initiative, into a similarly-designed antisubstance abuse action plan.

The action plan involves identifying both “risk” and “protective” factors among peers, as well as in communities, schools, and families.

The survey revealed that while relatively low substance abuse levels exist in grades 7 to 9, the numbers rise significantly among older students. Recent underage drinking reported by Newtown’s tenth and twelfth graders, for example, was “at or above the national average,” stated the survey summary.

While, nationally, 48.6 percent of seniors reported drinking in the past month, 68.6 percent of Newtown seniors said they were recent drinkers.

The survey also revealed major discrepancies between younger and older students in their attitude toward substance abuse.

While 15.7 percent of seventh and eighth graders felt it was “wrong” for someone their age to drink alcoholic beverages, 57.8 percent of ninth and tenth graders said it “not at all” wrong or “a little bit wrong.” Further, 32.6 percent of eleventh and twelfth graders saw little or no harm in getting drunk occasionally, the survey found.

Newtown Middle School health teacher Gail Seymour said that societal factors often give students “mixed messages” about substance abuse. “Students have asked me why marijuana isn’t legalized because of its medicinal purposes,” she said. “Students also are told that if they drink, they shouldn’t drive — which still doesn’t address the issue of underage drinking!”

Like elsewhere in Connecticut, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among adolescents in Newtown; 38.7 percent of eleventh and twelfth graders, according to the survey, admitted to using marijuana in the previous month.

Frequent marijuana usage is linked to increased substance dependence, accidental injury, emergency room admissions, poor school performance, legal problems, and increased school dropout rates, the survey reported.

Newtown High School Principal Bill Manfredonia said there is a “zero tolerance” policy at the school. Students identified as under the influence of an illegal substance are automatically arrested, he said. “We don’t like to see the [police] reports in the paper,” he said, “but it’s important that this is addressed.”

First-time offenders are suspended for three to five days, prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities for 21 days, and mandated to undergo at least three sessions with a school guidance counselor. Third-time offenders face at least one-year expulsion, Mr. Manfredonia said.

Obstacles To Treatment

“There are often a lot of barriers to adequate substance abuse treatment,” said Pam Crowcroft, a substance abuse counselor for Newtown Public Schools. “Over the past few years there has been a decline in adolescent treatment.”

Substance abuse treatment involves both medical and mental services, explained Ms Crowcroft. “Insurance companies may cover a few days of detox, but after that it’s difficult to afford ongoing treatment,” she said. Additional insurer concerns, she continued, include a high adolescent recidivism rate, which is also high among adults.

Academic punishment, such as suspension, said Ms Crowcroft, can facilitate users’ destructive behavior. “Students are often unsupervised during the day, particularly with single- or two-parent working families,” Ms Crowcroft said.

Another major impediment to effective treatment, she continued, is strong denial among teens and often their families. “This denial factor can be compounded with other familial issues, such as unhappy marriages or adult substance abuse,” said Ms Crowcroft.

Studies have long confirmed that substance abuse often has genetic patterns.

“There is an issue of what came first, the emotional issue or the substance abuse,” said Ms. Crowcroft.

Greg Jones, clinical program manager for Danbury Hospital’s Center for Child and Adolescent Treatment Services (CCATS), said that there are often case histories of teens recalling depression, anxiety, and other problems in their middle school and even elementary school years.

“[Substance abuse] can be a response to these other problems, if these other problems are left untreated,” said Mr. Jones.

CCATS provides extensive outpatient adolescent treatment programs to area families. “We often refer patients seeking inpatient care to Four Winds Hospital in Katonah, New York, or Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, among others.

“We accept most major insurers, and we have a special financial counselor that works with uninsured families,” said Mr Jones. He added, “We do not turn anyone away.”

Resources

Center for Child and Adolescent Treatment Services, Danbury, 830-6082.

Newtown Youth Services, 270-4335.

Newtown Counseling Center, 426-8103.

Parent Connection, 426-9280 or 426-6424.

On The Web

Connecticut Clearinghouse — Offers links to a variety of mental health services, www.ctclearinghouse.org.

Liberation, Meridian & Guenster — Comprehensive substance abuse resource, www.lmgprograms.org.