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, and media/business leaders. To get involved with Project Unite, please email Christine Letcher, letchech@cmhc.org.
For Parents: 
- Click Here to take our survey about underage drinking
- Parent Tips for Preventing Youth Alcohol or Drug Use
- Parents Who Host, Lose the Most
For Schools:
- Drug Impairment Training for Education Professionals (PDF 53K)
- Email: info@healthyandroscoggin.org or call Christine 795-2506 to get information on how to bring this training to your school.
For Retailers:
- State-approved Server Seller Trainings 2009-2010 (PDF 111KB) To register, email letchech@cmhc.org.
- Card ME, a free one-hour consultation , on-site and at the business’s convenience, to review and establish policies that prevent underage sales of alcohol and tobacco.
- To find out more about these programs email Healthy Androscoggin.
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.
Substance Abuse Resource Guide (PDF 737 Kb)
The Challenges:
- The 2008 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) reported that 29% of Androscoggin County students in grades eight through twelve drank alcohol within one month of the survey, and 14.% 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
- 2008 data for the County (11.7% of 6th-12th graders) show rates of inhalant use that are higher than the state rate (10.8% of 6th to 12th graders). Use among county data peaks in 9th and 10th grade, 14.0% and 14.9% respectively1
1 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol use Survey, 2008, 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