Local Fight Against Substance Abuse Yields Some Success
The Local Summit Raises $1,000 For Local Flood Victims
by Harold Wolfson
(May 2, 2007) Mamaroneck/Larchmont is achieving some success in combating teen alcohol and drug abuse, but the battle is ongoing and future success requires continued participation of the whole community
 RADAR liaison Dyanne Hogan described finding discarded containers of liquor and high-proof vanilla near places frequented by teens. |
During the meeting Mary Lee Berridge, president of the Local Summit, expressed concern for local families suffering from the recent flood. Doreen Kuschel passed around an envelope for contributions and $l,000 was raised.
Ms. Buchbinder, continuing with the planned program, said the current RADAR anti-abuse effort includes the participation of many facets of the community: the local school system; parent-teacher associations; individual parents; civic, business and faith-based groups; the police government, physicians, media and others. Two other RADAR sponsored meetings earlier in the month had brought together local officials and parents to focus on ways to prevent teen drug and alcohol use. (See: Parent Education Comes First in Preventing Teen Drug Use.)
One area of success, according to Robbie Seidman, assistant director of the Community Counseling Center, is in getting the whole community “to acknowledge there is a problem and that it takes the whole community, not just the parents, to attack it.”
A second area of success is in “reducing younger teen drinking,” she said.
Joan Rosen, communications director of the Mamaroneck School District, recalled that when she first took her job several years ago, a group of eighth graders were pulled out of a dance for being drunk. She said that because of the new community-wide approach to handling abuse this is not likely to happen now.
Still, the presenters were quick to admit too much alcohol and substance abuse is going on. The mother of a teenager told the group, “My son says kids can still get alcohol easily.”
Dyanne Hogan, a RADAR liaison from Rye Neck, told about a waste container outside an unnamed local store frequented by teens. “You’ll find in the waste can plenty of black bags holding empty alcohol containers and empty bottles of vanilla extract. Vanilla is 35% alcohol, 70 proof.”
Ms. Bookbinder noted that new threats were emerging and “down the pike RADAR is planning programs to combat teen abuse of inhalants and prescription and non-prescription medicines.”
The major educational tool in fighting abuse, said Cheryl Bobe of the Student Assistance Service in Tarrytown, “is increasing teen perception of personal harm from alcohol and drug abuse. If a child and his parents really understand and believe that abuse will be harmful personally, behavior will change.”
She pointed to the successful campaign a few years ago to educate teens about the pitfalls of Esctasy, the use of which sharply declined. She also spoke about the big drop in teen tobacco use that has followed wide-scale programs educating teens of the personal health hazard of smoking.
Larchmont Village Trustee Anne McAndrews said that more needs to be done about commercial interests that are using subtle and not-too-subtle means of encouraging alcohol use. In fact, she noted, McGill University’s student orientation program was funded by Molson beer.
Harold Wolfson is on the board of The Local Summit, an informal community council that works to make the community a better place to live for everyone. The Summit’s regular public meeting takes place the third Tuesday of the month at 7:45 am at the Nautilus Diner.