As reported in The Weston Forum (March 2014) alcohol and marijuana use has risen among Weston teens, while cigarette and other illicit drug use has decreased.
The survey was sponsored by Positive Directions The Center for Prevention & Recovery, the Weston school board, Weston public schools, Weston Department of Youth Services, and the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program (ADAP) of Weston. Its content was derived from the Connecticut Governor’s Prevention Initiative for Youth.
The survey’s purpose was to learn about attitudes, behaviors, and the prevalence of the use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and prescription and illicit drugs.
For more detailed information please visit the article at The Weston Forum:
http://www.thewestonforum.com/17276/marijuana-alcohol-usage-is-up-with-weston-teens/
ADAP’s Board sent in this reply to the Weston Forum:
Letter to the Editor. April 7
With a recent survey showing increased use of marijuana and alcohol among older teens in Weston, we want parents to know about an important resource available to help students cope with peer pressure and other issues, including drug and alcohol use. Weston’s Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program runs a youth group, in which students in grades 9 through 12 meet once a month with a trained youth coordinator.
Here’s what one parent had to say about it in a note to the ADAP board: “By involving teens seriously in difficult discussions, ADAP’s able to cut through a lot of the cynicism and mistrust kids often have for the advice adults give them,” said Francis Phillips, whose daughter is a member of Weston’s Youth Leadership Council, ADAP’s youth group.
Andrew Katz, who is now a college freshman and a former co-president of ADAP, wrote this about his experience: “Exchanging viewpoints with the group has strongly impacted the choices I have made in the pressure-filled world that is high school. We are not an abstinence group; however, we do promote healthy choices.”
for the full letter please visit: Letter-to-the-Editor.ADAP
