North Stonington teen data compiled on substance use

North Stonington - Alcohol is the "substance of choice" for the town's youth, according to a study of high and middle school students, but its overall substances use rates are lower than regional averages.

Presented Tuesday by members of Positive Health in Teens (PHIT) and the Southeastern Regional Action Council (SERAC), the study found that about a quarter of the school's high school students reported recent alcohol use.

The data, presented to about 25 adults and 15 students, comes from results of a survey given in April to North Stonington seventh- through 12th-grade students.

School officials said responses to the survey, last taken in 2009, are especially encouraging because prescription drug use - found to be prevalent in the previous survey - has dropped dramatically. Of 247 participating students, 2 to 4 percent reported recent use of prescription drugs without a prescription.

Wheeler High School health teacher Trish Albamonti said her class and PHIT, a local coalition that works to reduce youth substance abuse, has recently made targeting prescription drug use a priority.

Albamonti said marijuana was the most widely used illicit drug and that the school would shift focus to lowering its rates of use. She said one of the more surprising statistics was that the majority of students think cigarettes are more harmful than marijuana and alcohol.

"The students said marijuana was more accessible than alcohol," Albamonti said. "I asked the students if they could find marijuana, even if they wouldn't use it, and 88 of 94 said they could."

Angela Duhaime, the SERAC community coordinator, said 16 of the 20 towns SERAC covers have released survey data this year, and North Stonington youth have some of the lowest rates of substance use.

Terri Murach, a mother of three, said after the presentation that she worked in a hospital for 12 years and saw first-hand the effects of substance abuse.

Murach said she's frank and open with her "soon-to-be 16-year-old daughter" about the dangers of drugs and underage drinking.

Albamonti said that sort of communication could be key in keeping rates low.

"Kids do talk to parents in this community," she said.

s.goldstein@theday.com