Franklin County Caring Communities

The Franklin County START wants to STOP underage and high-risk drinking among young people in Franklin County.

Underage drinking refers to drinking by anyone under the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21.

High-risk drinking refers to youthful drinking, drinking too much (bingeing, or consuming 5 or more alcoholic drinks if you’re a guy, 4 or more drinks if you’re a girl, in one evening), drinking and driving, and drinking and using other drugs at the same time.

Why START? Check out these facts about underage drinking in Franklin County:

• 34% – 1 in 3 – high school students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days.
• 20%, or 1 in 5, high school students reported binge drinking in the past 30 days.
• Of those who drank, 44% say they drank hard liquor.
• 47% of kids who report drinking – almost half - say that somone gave it to them; 29% gave someone money to buy it for them; 17% said they got it or stole it from home (and that % increases the younger the teen)
• A whopping 73% of Franklin County high schoolers, whether they drink or not, think it would be easy to get alcohol in Franklin County. That means that 3 out of 4 students believe they could lay their hands on some alcohol
• Some kids start young: 24% of middle schoolers (6-8) reported having had a drink (more than a few sips).    All data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Franklin County Edition.

 START wants to stop teen drinking before it happens and interrupt it when it does happen. If you are concerned about parties or events where underage drinking is planned or ongoing, or if you know that someone is serving or selling to minors, please report your concerns to a START affiliate in your area:

Franklin County Stop Teen Alcohol Risk Team:

Vermont State Police: 524-5993 *  FC Sheriff: 524-2121 * St. Albans PD: 524-2166  * Swanton PD: 868-4100 * Franklin County Caring Communities: 527-5049 * Franklin County Court Diversion: 527-5560

You can also contact our partner, Vermont Department of Liquor Control, at 802 828-1031 if you have concerns about specific alcohol outlets serving or selling to minors.

Adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010—that is almost 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving each day—according to a CDC Vital Signs study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The four million adults who drink and drive each year put everyone on the road at risk,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “In fact, nearly 11,000 people are killed every year in crashes that involve an alcohol–impaired driver.”

For the study, CDC analyzed data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey.

The study also found that:

• Men were responsible for 81 percent of drinking and driving in 2010.
• Young men, ages 21–34, made up only 11 percent of the U.S. population in 2010, yet were responsible for 32 percent of all episodes of drinking and driving.
• Eighty–five percent of drinking and driving episodes were reported by people who also reported binge drinking. Binge drinking means five or more drinks for men or four or more drinks for women during a short period of time.

“Drunk driving is a public health problem with far–reaching effects,” said Linda C. Degutis, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Drunk drivers, who have delayed reaction times and reflexes, put even the most responsible drivers and pedestrians in harm’s way. Public support to prevent drunk driving is strong. Thankfully, there are proven ways to protect everyone on the road.”

Proven, effective strategies to prevent alcohol–impaired driving include:

• Sobriety checkpoints: At sobriety checkpoints drivers are stopped to assess their level of alcohol impairment. According to the Transportation Research Board, more widespread, frequent use of these checkpoints could save about 1,500 to 3,000 lives on the road each year.
• Minimum legal drinking age laws: These laws prohibit selling alcohol to people under age 21 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Keeping 21 as the minimum legal drinking age helps keep young, inexperienced drivers from drinking and driving.
• Ignition interlocks: These devices prevent drivers who were convicted of alcohol–impaired driving from operating their vehicles if they have been drinking. Interlocks are effective in reducing re–arrest rates from drinking and driving by about two–thirds while the device is on the vehicle.

CDC’s Injury Center works to protect the safety of everyone on the roads, every day. For more information about drinking and driving and overall motor vehicle safety, please visitwww.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety and www.cdc.gov/injury. In addition, a policy issue brief, Policy Impact: Alcohol–Impaired Driving, features more information on state policies to prevent alcohol–impaired driving. For a copy of this data brief, visit www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/alcoholbrief.

Vital Signsis a CDC report that appears on the first Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR. The report provides the latest data and information on key health indicators. These are cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, motor vehicle passenger safety, prescription drug overdose, HIV/AIDS, alcohol use, health care–associated infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, asthma, and food safety.

CDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money to have a more secure nation.  Whether these threats are chronic or acute, manmade or natural, human error or deliberate attack, global or domestic, CDC is the U.S. health protection agency.

For more information about the new workplace health initiative, visit http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/nhwp/index.html.

Living and working in an environment that promotes healthy behaviors and where there is access to affordable, healthy foods helps create healthier communities.  The Healthy Retailer initiative is working towards promoting and supporting those healthy behaviors.

As part of the Healthy Retailer initiative, between August and November of this year, the Franklin Grand Isle Regional Prevention Collaborative surveyed 154 Franklin Grand Isle residents about what they would like to see at their local retail outlets concerning alcohol and tobacco promotions and access to healthy foods.  Franklin and Grand Isle residents were overwhelmingly in support of their retailers becoming Healthy Retailers.  In fact, 53% of the Franklin Grand Isle residents surveyed agreed that they would choose a retailer designated as a “Healthy Retailer” over another.

Survey participants were asked specifically about tobacco and alcohol advertising at local convenience stores, corner stores, grocery stores and pharmacies.  82% of them believed that alcohol advertising should be restricted or eliminated inside convenience stores and gas stations.  84% believed that tobacco advertising should be restricted to displays behind the counter or eliminated.  When asked whether alcohol and tobacco advertising should be visible from outside the convenience store/gas station, 87% believed alcohol advertising should be limited or eliminated while 86% believed the same for tobacco outdoor advertising.

Research is beginning to show that when it comes to alcohol and tobacco advertisements at the local retail level, youth are negatively impacted.  Youth are three times more susceptible to tobacco advertisements and more likely to use both alcohol and tobacco products when there is a high density of advertisements at their local retail establishments.

Our community agrees this is a problem.  More than two-thirds of those surveyed believed that advertising in stores influences youth.  Furthermore, half of the respondents believed tobacco shouldn’t be advertised at all.  That was particularly true for pharmacies (86%) and grocery stores (79%).  In fact, when asked whether tobacco products should even be sold, 79% believed they should not be sold at all in pharmacies and slightly more than half (54%) thought grocery stores should not be selling them.

Tobacco and alcohol use, especially among teens, is not the only factor contributing to being a Healthy Retailer.  Participants were also asked about availability and affordability of fruits and veggies and other healthy choices at their local convenience store/corner store.   61% of respondents replied they would buy fresh fruits and veggies at their local convenience/corner store if they were available and of good quality, but only 34% found that healthy foods were available at their local convenience store/corner market while only about a third felt the quality of the food met their expectations.

The Flying Disc of Enosburg Falls and Jolley of N. Main St. in St. Albans are leading the way as being our region’s first “Healthy Retailers.”  Do you have a retail outlet in your community that you’d like to be a Healthy Retailer?  Are you the manager or owner of a retail outlet and you’d like to find out about how to become a Healthy Retailer?  To find out more about the program, contact Regional Prevention Collaborative’s Amy Brewer at 524-1296 or abrewer@nmcinc.org, or visit healthvermont.gov/fitandhealthy.

The FGI Regional Prevention Collaborative is a group that includes members of the Vermont Department of Health, Franklin County Caring Communities, Franklin Grand Isle Tobacco Prevention Coalition, Fit & Healthy Swanton, Fit & Healthy Enosburg, GICCT, and Rural Partnerships.

 For more information about the Healthy Retailers Initiative, contact Amy Brewer at 524-1296.

Welcome to Franklin County Caring Communities.

We know it intuitively, but research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown the important role that parents play in preventing their children from starting to use drugs. Check out NIDA to learn more and participate in a “family checkup.”

January 28-February 1 is National Drug Facts Week. Click here to test your knowledge on drugs.

Ever wonder what makes teens tick? Wonder how to interact with them in a way to reduce the chance that they’ll engage in risky behaviors like underage drinking and other drug use? View this media clip from a presentation by Michael Nerney, renowned prevention expert, and learn how youth process information and emotions, and how you as a caring adult can influence their decisions.

Parents, “Safe Homes Parent Network” is a way for you to connect, support one another, and keep kids safe and substance free across Franklin County.   We’re inviting parents to “sign on” to the following:

• I will actively supervise all gatherings of youth in our home or on our property, or ask another responsible adult for help to do so.
• I will not allow the possession of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs by youth in our home or on our property.
• I will set expectations for my children by knowing where they are going, whom they are with, what they are doing, and when they are to return home.

Are you interested in joining the Safe Home Parent Network? Click here for more information, or contact  beth@fcccp.org to get on board.

Check out ParentUp for tips on recognizing substance use in teens, talking to your kids and teens about underage drinking and other drug use, and preparing them for safe, fun, substance free parties and events.

Franklin County’s Stop Teen Alcohol Risk Team (START), a partnership with our law enforcement agencies, Court Diversion, the State’s Attorney, and the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, was busy in May and June and will continue to conduct proactive patrols through the summer. Why START? The purpose of this partnership is to reduce underage access to alcohol by enforcing laws regarding social hosting, enabling, and furnishing alcohol to minors. Click here for more on START.

Looking to get more involved in County-wide prevention and positive youth development? Consider becoming a mentor, getting involved in “Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol,” or joining our board. We all benefit when our members take an active role in guiding our coalition’s prevention initiatives.  Contact Beth 527-5049 x 1 or beth@fcccp.org for more information.

Caring Communities is a proud supporter of Front Porch Forum, a web-based community network. If you live or work in St. Albans, Fairfield, or Richford, your community has Front Porch Forum. Check it out and join the conversation.

And, if you’d like to support Caring Communities and Watershed Mentoring financially, you can now donate online! Please click on the button to the right to be taken to a secure donation website.

Thanks for your interest and remember, we are ALL Caring Communities.

Beth Crane