Assessment Committee Responsibilities
County:	Knox County	
Committee Member	Affiliation	Role/Responsibility	
    Stacey Belley		5 Town Communities That Care	     The Core Group	
Jeff Brawn, Intern	MSAD #40	     The Core Group	
Rilla Bray, Educator	Family Planning	     The Core Group	
Cheryl Cichowski, Staff                                 	 KCCHC	     The Core Group	
Lisa Ettinger, Concerned Parent 	Camden	     The Core Group	
Sgt. Don Finnegan	Rockland Police Department	     The Core Group	
Jayne Harper                                                	WellnesSphere	     The Core Group	
Kay Henderson, Federal Grant Writer 	Pen Bay Health Care	     The Core Group	
Carrie Horne, Assistant Director 	NAMI, ME	     The Core Group	
Martha Kempe, Director 	Community School Passages Program                     	     The Core Group	
Jeff Kuller, Director                                             	Camden Parks and Rec Department	     The Core Group	
Nancy Laite				HealthyWise, LLC	     The Core Group	
Henry Lunn                                                    	Educational and Career Counseling	     The Core Group	
Lt. Gerard Madden					Maine State Police, Thomaston Barracks	     The Core Group	
Carole Martin, Executive Director                                    	Youthlinks	     The Core Group	
Woody Moore,  School Health Coordinator                                            	MSAD#5	     The Core Group	
George Mueller				MidCoast Business Advisors 	     The Core Group	
Chuck Nguyen, Social Worker		MSAD #40	     The Core Group	
Mary Orear, Executive Director                                                 	 Mainely Girls	     The Core Group	
Patricia Ott, RSVP Program Director                                                       	Penquis CAP	     The Core Group	
Connie Putnam, Director	KCCHC	     The Core Group	
Alice Shea, Program Manager		Youthlinks	     The Core Group	
Anne Smarella,  RSVP Coordinator	Penquis CAP	     The Core Group	
 Indicator Data for Substance Use Among Middle and High School Students
 in Knox County
Indicator	Overall Rate of use, 2006	Group with highest rates, 2006	Compared to state?	Other notes	
Lifetime use: alcohol	52.4	12th grade	x   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State: 47.7%	
Lifetime use: marijuana	30.6	12TH grade	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State: 25%	
Lifetime misuse: prescription drugs	14.7	11th grade	X Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State: 12%
	
Previous 30-day use: alcohol	33.3	11th grade	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State 29%
	
Previous 30-day use: marijuana	18.9	12th grade	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State 14.1%
	
Previous 30-day misuse: prescription drugs	6.4	11th grade	     Higher
 Lower
X   About the same	State 6%
	
Previous 2-week participation in binge drinking by grade	18.7	12th grade	X Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State: 14.6%
	
Previous 2-week participation in binge drinking by gender	21.1 male
16.9 female	Male	X Higher
 Lower
 About the same	State rate 
Male—14.9%
Female—13.2%
	
Age first tried alcohol	52.4	14 and older	N/A	
	
Age first tried marijuana	39.3	14 and older	N/A		
Substances of greatest concern in our county:
Alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs, and inhalants are a great concern. 

Subpopulations/age groups of particular concern in our county:
•	Students in grades 10 and 12 have shown a high usage of Alcohol, Marijuana and Prescription drugs
•	10th  graders have purported a high use of inhalants

Substances consumed in our county at a higher rate than the state:
Alcohol, Prescription Drugs, Marijuana, inhalants

Areas where we need more information (such as who, what, where, why and when):
We need more information concerning the consequences of inhalant use, and why the 10th graders seem to be most prone to using.  Is this a particularly difficult time of transition for this age group in their school and/or home environments? Or, does it relate more to a stage in their level of maturity and development?  

 Indicator Data for Substance Use among Adults in Knox County (KC)

Indicator	County: Rate of use	State: 
Rate of Use	Compared to state?	Other notes	
Lifetime use among adults: alcohol	98.7	91.8	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same		
Lifetime use among adults: marijuana	46.8	40.5	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same		
Lifetime use among adults: prescription drugs	0	4.9	 Higher
X Lower
 About the same	     	
Previous 30-day use among adults: alcohol	66.2	56.6	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	     	
Previous 30-day use among adults: marijuana	4.2	4	 Higher
 Lower
X About the same	     	
Previous 12-month participation in binge drinking	44.6	50.8	X Higher
 Lower
 About the same	     	
Previous 30-day participation in binge drinking	26.9	27.8	 Higher
 Lower
X   About the same	     	
Previous 12-month binge drinking by gender (not available for all counties)	     	     	 Higher
 Lower
 About the same	     	
Individuals crossing the threshold for prescription drugs	Female: 52.4

Male: 47.7	Female: 62.7 

Male: 37.3	 Higher
 Lower
 About the same	Female threshold rates are higher than KC males yet significantly lower than state average and lowest among counties
Male rates are lower than KC females yet significantly higher than state average and highest among counties.	
Median age of individuals crossing the threshold	40	42	 Higher
     Lower
X About the same	     	

Substances of greatest concern in our county:
Alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs

Substances consumed in our county at a higher rate than the state:
Alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs

Areas where we need more information (such as who, what, where, why and when):
We need more information and data for the 18-65 year olds, and within that range, specifically 2 groups:
1.	those who have graduated from high school, and are not attending college (we found it very hard to gather info on them)
2.	the aging baby boomers, especially those who have used recreational drugs through out their lives, and now, as they are getting older,  may be taking a lot of prescriptions 

Consequences of concern in my county among particular subpopulations/age groups:
Crime, overdose deaths, suicide

Indicator Data: Substance Use Consequences among Youth in Knox County

Indicator	Rate of consequence in most recent year: County	Compared to state?	Trends over time?	Other notes	
Juvenile arrests for alcohol violations	2.1% (2,138/100K)	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State rate: .7% (685/100K)	
Juvenile arrests for drug violations	.9% (934/100K)	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State rate: .6% (552/100K)	
Percent of all youth drivers (under 21) in fatal crashes who were alcohol-involved	0	 Higher
X   Lower
 About the same	 Increase
X   Decrease
 No change	State rate: 22.7 	
Suspensions/removals due to alcohol or drugs 	Alcohol 0
Marijuana 10%	 Higher
X   Lower
 About the same	N/A	State Alcohol 12.6%
State Marijuana 34%
3 year average ages 12 -17,  01-02 to 02-03

Consequences of concern in my county:
Juvenile arrests for drug and alcohol violations

Consequences in which my county exceeds the state:
Juvenile arrests

Consequences where we need more information (such as who, what, where, why and when):
Our County is rather low key in how “consequences” are reported regarding juvenile arrests.  A lot more could be done surrounding the events leading up to such an arrest, as well as the actual outcome (be it an arrest or otherwise), sending the message that local law enforcement is serious in its efforts to deter substance abuse.  The consequences of youth drug and alcohol use with the law, community, home and family environments, etc. need to be better known. 

Indicator Data: Substance Use Consequences among Adults in Knox County

Indicator	Rate of consequence in most recent year: County	Compared to state?	Trends over time?	Other notes	
Rates of reported crimes per 1,000 people, by type	21% property 
4.7% violent	N/A	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change		
Arrests for alcohol violations, age 18 and older 	1.5% (1,469/100K)	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 1% (984/100K)	
Adult OUI arrests, age 18 and older	.8% (793/100K)	X Higher
 Lower
 About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: .7% (656/100K)	
Arrests for drug violations, age 18 and older	.6% (595/100K)	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State .4% (431/100K)	
Percent of total fatal crashes over 5 years that were alcohol-related	27.1%	 Higher
X   Lower
 About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
X   No change	State: 34.1%	
Percent of all young adult drivers (21 to 29) in fatal crashes who were alcohol-involved	36.4%	     Higher
X   Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 54.3%	
Percent of all adult drivers (30 and older) in fatal crashes who were alcohol-involved	10.3%	 Higher
X   Lower
 About the same	 Increase
X   Decrease
 No change	State: 20%	
Deaths by underlying cause
All counties with less than 100K residents	Cirrhosis 3.9%
SA.4%
Suicide 14.1%
Homicide 1.5%	N/A	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	     	
Overdose deaths	14.8	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 11.4%	
Treatment admissions (all ages)	1.7% (1,651/100K)	X   Higher
 Lower
 About the same	X   Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 1.1% (1,085/100K)	
Percent of total treatment admissions (18 and older) involving alcohol	66.3%	 Higher
X   Lower
     About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 71.8%	
Percent of total treatment admissions (18 and older) involving marijuana	32.1%	 Higher
 Lower
 About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	State: 32%	
Percent of total treatment admissions (18 and older) involving prescription drugs (not available for all counties)	24.5%	 Higher
 Lower
 About the same	 Increase
 Decrease
 No change	24%	

Consequences of concern in my county:
Arrests for alcohol and drug violations, OUI, overdose deaths

Consequences of concern in my county among particular subpopulations/age groups:
The 18-25 year old population

Consequences in which my county exceeds the state:
Arrests for alcohol and drugs violations, including OUI arrests; overdoes deaths

Consequences where we need more information (such as who, what, where, why and when):
More consequence data is needed in order to do successful prevention, and to impact the community enough to make environmental and policy changes.

Note:  In a very timely article printed today, August 23, 2007, in the Courier Gazette,  Knox County Drug Overdose Deaths Highest Rate in the State, Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse Director, Kim Johnson said:
  “Overdose deaths went up rapidly since 2002 statewide….Admissions for treatment in Knox County continue to rise.  Seven years ago there were 19 people in Knox County treated for prescription opiate abuse, … That number continued to climb to 61, reaching a peak of 69 in 2003.”

 The same article quoted Dr. Marcella Sorg of the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy as saying, “Knox has 3 percent of Maine’s population, but has 5 percent of Maine’s drug-induced deaths.”  
Review of Past Needs Assessments

•	Who conducted it and when?	•	What geographic area did it cover?	•	What age group(s) did it cover?	•	What type of information is in the assessment ?	•	What were the key findings relevant to substance abuse prevention?	
•	1. Rockland PD
	•	Rockland	•	2006 voters	•	community safety, quality of life, drug and traffic enforcement	•	TBD	
•	2. MVHS Freshmen Survey
	•	Friendship, Union, Washington, Warren, Waldoboro	•	14-16 YO	•	     	•	     

	
Regions in the county in which an assessment that included substance abuse has not been conducted: 

With a thorough search, and to the best knowledge of the Core Group, there have been no county-wide substance abuse prevention assessments prior to this SPEP assessment.  It is the speculation of Core Group members that the reasons behind this are several – the community traits of fear, apathy, and denial have created a lack of public demand for such a county-wide assessment, which in turn could be why there has been no funding to do such an assessment.  Also, the prevailing perspective to date has been one of seeing the area as target populations that fit criteria for specific grant funding opportunities, as opposed to that of seeing the region as a whole.