How much do parents influence their kids when it comes to underage drinking? According to recent studies, it may be the most important single factor determining whether a child decides to consume alcohol. That’s why the Vermont Department of Health is launching a new campaign next month with a focus on Vermont’s parents. Vermont has a history of being among the states with the highest percentage of underage alcohol users.

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Project Against Violent Encounters in Bennington is in danger of losing about $10,000 in state funding because the Douglas administration is looking to eliminate a grant to the organization, according to Executive Director Linda Campbell. The grant, for a program called Reaching Forward, provides funding for one person to provide high school age students with alcohol and drug abuse prevention, as well as mentoring, around the state.

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Spectrum, a Burlington agency providing support services for homeless and troubled youth, will receive $1.2 million over three years to set up a wellness program for teens and young adults with drug and alcohol disorders. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration selected 13 agencies across the country for this funding. Link to full article

A brief article from the Burlington Free Press reports that "several Vermont organizations will receive more than $1.2 million in federal grants to battle drug and substance abuse." Although these organizations were not named specifically, Vermont sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders strongly supported the grants and "led congressional efforts to increase funding for the programs."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that the city of St. Albans is working to combat drug crime and prescription drug abuse. Recently, hundreds of local people attended two forums on the topic. "From there several different committees were formed. One is working through the schools to educate parents and teachers on how to spot the signs that someone is abusing drugs." In addition, a "neighborhood watch has been launched"; "a volunteer crime task force has suggested scaling back the city fire department to free up money for law enforcement"; and "officials are considering starting an ambulance service to generate funds."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "Canadian Ecstasy smugglers appear to be focusing their efforts to reach American markets in the U.S.-Canadian border area on the New York and Vermont sides of Lake Champlain." For example, on "the day before Thanksgiving, customs agents seized 200,000 of Ecstasy tablets valued at between $4 million and $6 million at the border crossing in Alburgh." This seizure was the largest ground seizure "ever in New England" and "was only the latest of four multimillion-dollar Ecstasy seizures in Vermont and New York in the last six weeks." Notably, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, "Between 2003 and 2006 the amount of Ecstasy seized in the 10 Canadian border states went up almost 10 times."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "Senator Patrick Leahy plans to come to St. Albans next week to chair a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on rural crime." The hearing will "focus on drug-related crimes and efforts to address drug abuse through prevention, treatment and enforcement." Leahy said "he's hoping to learn what the federal government can do to help small communities like St. Albans deal with the recent growth in drug-related crimes." Those scheduled to testify at the hearing include law enforcement officials and drug prevention specialists.

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Vermont Public Radio reports that Vermont Department of Health is unveiling a new smoking cessation program to coincide with the American Cancer Society's 33rd Annual Great American Smokeout. The objective of the program called "Your Quit, Your Way" is"to reach what the department calls 'independent quitters'...people who want to stop smoking in their own way, on their own terms." According to Sheri Lynn, Tobacco Control Chief for the Health Department, "Smokers now have access to free tools and strategies available through the Vermont Quit Network" such as free nicotine gum, patches and lozenges.She added, "We have pedometers, so that instead of taking a cigarette break you can go out and take a walk and track your steps. We also have things to distract your hand, putty or worry stones, and you can get podcasts and hear about the proven tips and strategies to keep smoke-free."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "ten leading Vermont college educators are among scores of their colleagues from across the country calling for a debate about the merits of the minimum drinking age of 21." Educators who have signed onto the Amethyst Initiative, which wasdeveloped by former Middlebury College President John McCardell, maintain thatthe 21-year-old minimum drinking age is not working because more young people are drinking irresponsibly. College of St. Joseph President Frank Migloriecommentedthat "once people reach 18 years of age they are given full citizenship, except the right to drink alcohol." Since July 2008, 134 college presidents from around the country have signed the initiative."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "Barre police are urging city residents to dispose of outdated and unused prescription drugs to prevent them from" being stolen and or used improperly. Indeed, Barre is launching a Prescription Drug Repository Program from October 13 to November 14.  During the program, Barre police will "have a locked receptacle in the lobby of the public safety building where people can dispose of their drugs." The program is modeled after a St. Alban's program that resulted in the collection of about 7,000 pills from late May to late June. "The St. Albans plan followed a spike in calls involving the theft of prescription medications."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that thirty "teen centers around Vermont will get some needed money thanks to a federal grant secured by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.The funds will help pay for health and fitness programs." Vermont is home to forty-two teen centers which "provide after-school and weekend activities for kids, and help [youth] avoid drugs and other unhealthy behaviors." Sanders noted, "We live in a society now in tough economic times. We have a situation with both mom and dad working - there is nobody at home. What I see happening around this state is that there are a lot of kids who after school spend their time hanging around on street corners getting tempted to do self-destructive type activities." He concluded, teen centers "provide needed after-school activities in an environment free of drugs and violence."

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The Caledonian Record reports that Dr. Scott Stone, a Montpelier-based doctor who operates drug treatment facilities in Montpelier and Morrisville that treat heroin, morphine, methadone, fentanyl, and percocet addictions, is proposing to fight hard-drug addiction in St. Johnsbury by opening up a treatment facility in the area. "The treatment facility would prescribe and administer the drug Suboxone, which prevents withdrawal symptoms, and [would] provide intensive outpatient group therapy to residents within a 20-mile catchment area."  Stone explained, "We're trying to get a start on stopping the next generation of this scourge. We're trying to help the community out, and really help the people that are addicted to this kind of drug."

On Tuesday, Stone met with the St. Johnsbury Development Review Board to request a permit for a facility on St. Johnsbury's Railroad Street. "A treatment facility on Railroad Street, however, may be an uphill battle. The town review board tabled Stone's request for lack of information, and questions about its proposed location. He was also "instructed to provide written documents including program dynamics, need in the area, treatment steps, patient expectations, and the range of medication stored on site. He was encouraged to look for office space in the town health-services zone, around Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, and review St. Johnsbury zoning regulations."

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The Bennington Banner reports that "for the next two weeks, local and state police will be out in full force, attempting to keep drunk and impaired drivers off the road." The campaign, called You Drink You Lose, is "aimed at keeping impaired drivers off the road through education and enforcement, including increased patrols and DUI checkpoints. It is held during the last two weeks of August because, traditionally, this is when the most drunk drivers are on the road." Notably, "in 2007, 25 of the 66 people that died on Vermont's roadways were killed in alcohol related crashes. In the five years prior, 140 people died, or 28 per year, in alcohol-related crashes in the state."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "college presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18." The presidents are part of the Amethyst Initiative which was formed "more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age." The group was started by former Middlebury College president John McCardell and maintains that "current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus." In Vermont, those participating in the effort include the presidents of Bennington College, the Vermont State Colleges, Middlebury, the New England Culinary Institute, and the Vermont Law School. "In New Hampshire, President James Wright of Dartmouth College and President Paul LeBlanc of Southern New Hampshire University [have] signed onto the list."

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The Bennington Banner reports that the Southshire Substance Abuse Coalition, a local substance abuse organization, is "looking to collect first-person accounts of drug and alcohol abuse in the community." The organization is hoping to use those testimonails to "raise awareness on the consequences of using [drugs]" and in turn, "make people reconsider their own [drug] use." Thus far, the Coalition has collected one account from an anonymous male college student. The account details the student's "brother's drug use and how it destroyed his brother's life and tore his family apart. The student did it as part of a court diversion program through the Center for Restorative Justice after receiving an underage drinking citation of his own."

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