A Healthy Trend
GROTON, Conn. – A collection of city officials, parents, and administrators breathed a small sigh of relief Wednesday night as the Groton Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (GASP) released the findings of its recent youth substance abuse survey.
Approximately 30 people attended the meeting at the Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School that presented the results of a biennial survey GASP helped to administer to 828 students at Fitch High School and Cutler, Fitch, and West Side middle schools in May of 2008. The survey was designed to “ascertain prevalence, attitudes, and behaviors related to use of substances [tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs].” Archie C. Swindell, PhD, of Quantitative Services and Michelle Hamilton, GASP’s program coordinator, led the forum.
“Whatever we find here is not just a school issue,” Swindell cautioned the audience, “but an issue that concerns the whole community.”
According to its executive summary, the survey documents a “steady, albeit somewhat uneven, decline in the recent use (within the previous 30 days) of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.” More specifically, “substance use by 9th and 10th graders from 2000 to 2008 was: alcohol, from 41 percent to 27 percent; cigarettes, from 20 percent to 14 percent; and marijuana, from 20 percent to 14 percent.”
There were some negative trends, such as “experimentation with hallucinogens and cocaine may be on the increase among older youth…among 7th and 8th graders inhalant use increased from 2004 to 2008,” and prescription drug use showed a slight uptick across grades. But overall most substance abuse appeared to be trending downward, while youth and parental awareness of such issues was on the rise.
Founded in July of 1999, GASP is a coalition of 21 local groups and agencies and area parents and teens dedicated to addressing substance-abuse issues. It is run under the supervision of the Ledge Light Health District, a government entity that serves Groton, Ledyard, Waterford, New London, and East Lyme in lieu of local health
departments.
Hamilton and Stephen Mansfield, Ledge Light’s deputy director of health, were pleased with the survey results and attributed the decrease in abuse, at least in part, to GASP’s initiatives. Among them, the efforts of local youths in the Youth Against Drugs Committee (a 10-member student organization led by Kaitlyn King, a junior at Fitch High School) and Ledge Light’s summer internship program.
“They are really good at telling us what will work and what won’t,” Hamilton said of the students’ influence.
Hamilton and Mansfield said the survey data helps to let them know their efforts are pointed in the right direction and helps them keep an eye on the road ahead.
“We don’t want to leave the survey on the shelf,” Hamilton said. “We want to use it to strategize to see what to do next. We do use the data to set priorities for the future.”
These priorities will include continuing productive initiatives, such as the “Locker Shock” campaign they ran through the youth group that blanketed school lockers with GASP magnets, as well as mentoring other city’s budding programs (GASP currently assists both Norwich and Waterford’s contingents). They will also use the new data to further their candidacy for future grants.
GASP currently receives approximately $100,000 a year from the Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA), according to Hamilton, as part of a 10-year grant GASP received in 2001. When this grant expires, the coalition will have to seek alternate funding, which members plan to do as the expiration date aproaches.
“We can seek funding more easily because our program is up and running and has been successful,” Mansfield said. He said the favorable data from the 2008 survey helps to support their efforts and makes the process of applying for future grants and funding that much easier.
Asked if the downward trending data might show substance abuse issues resolving themselves, and thus preclude GASP from securing future funding, Swindell said, “That’s absolutely not the case. It’s like holding something underwater. While you’re making an effort, it stays down, but as soon as you let up, the problem will pop right up again. I don’t think success breeds difficulty in getting another grant.”
The GASP coalition has set up a Web site, www.gaspcoalition.org, which provides history and news about the organization and gives directions on how to get involved. Its next event will be the New London County Tobacco Retailers Breakfast on March 17 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Groton. For more information on the event or GASP’s efforts, contact Michelle Hamilton at 448-4882, ext. 305.
This article ran originally in the Groton Times and is available online here: http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/groton_times/archive/2009/03/12/a-healthy-trend-substance-abuse-coalition-releases-survey-result.aspx
