FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: KIM JOHNSON
FEBRUARY 24, 2006 OFFICE OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
207-287-6344
PRESS RELEASE
STATE OFFICIALS JOIN TOGETHER TO REDUCE UNDERAGE DRINKING
Governor, First Lady, AG, Former First Lady to attend
a series of community summits.
AUGUSTA, ME—Underage drinking is a significant public health problem
across the country. Alcohol is the single most significant contributing factor
in the leading causes of death for teens which are car crashes and other accidents,
suicide and homicide. To address the issue, the state of Maine is participating
in a national wave of community summits sponsored by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration to mobilize communities around underage
drinking prevention efforts. In Maine, twenty-three Underage Drinking Summits
are being organized by a broad range of local partners with support from various
state-level partners. These Summits are an opportunity for all sectors of a
community; from parents and youth to law enforcement and elected officials,
to come together to discuss the solutions for underage drinking in their communities.
“Consumption of alcohol by underage youth is a problem not only in
Maine, but across the nation,” said Governor John E. Baldacci, “Underage
Drinking Summits will provide an opportunity for community members to learn
more about new research on the issue and to discuss how their community can
best prevent underage alcohol use.”
Alcohol is so entrenched in society that no single prevention strategy will
solve the problem. The Underage Drinking Summits will assist community members
in identifying the local challenges to reducing underage drinking, and will
empower community members to identify the role they have to play in the solution
to the problem.
Attorney General Steve Rowe will be speaking at most of the community summits
around the state. He will tell participants that “Alcohol use by children
has profound and devastating consequences. Heavy alcohol use negatively affects
developing brains and leads to greatly increased chances of alcohol addiction.” Rowe
is participating in the summits because he believes that “We must come
together as one community to change the social beliefs of young people in relation
to drinking. These summits are the first step toward this change.”
Partners in this statewide effort include the Office of Substance Abuse (OSA),
the Maine Association of Prevention Programs (MAPP), the Governor and First
Lady, the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Public Safety,
Medical Care Development, Ethos Marketing and Design, the Youth Empowerment
and Policy Group and local community coalitions.
“We can build a safer, healthier Maine by bringing together these regional
coalitions of youth, adults and organizations working to protect the health
and safety of young people and communities by reducing alcohol use and its
negative consequences,” said First Lady Karen Baldacci. “We encourage
all community members to become involved in these Summits and be part of the
solution.”
The first of the state’s Underage Drinking Summits will be held February
28 in Topsham at the Mt. Ararat High School Commons Room, from 6-8 p.m. This
summit will feature Attorney General Steve Rowe, the former First Lady Mary
Herman, and a local panel including MSAD 75 Superintendent Michael Wilhelm,
Sexual Assault Support Services Executive Director Susan Hall Dreher, Bath
Police Chief Pete Lizanecz, and Mid Coast Hospital Emergency Department Medical
Director Dr. Steve Fisher.
Other Summits will be held throughout the state during the months of March
and April. For more information or Summit schedules, contact Megan Rice, MAPP
coordinator, at 207-621-8118.
