Assistant District Attorney David Clayton to Speak on Alcohol and Other Drugs

Please join us as Assistant District Attorney David Clayton presents information on alcohol, marijuana, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, inhalants, and steroids, as well as the signs and symptoms of substance use and abuse in this presentation for parents and community members.  Current trends of youth alcohol and drug use will also be presented from surveys done in Sudbury.  There will be an opportunity for questions.

Alcohol and drug use by teens continues to be a major issue. Social and health-related consequences of alcohol and drug use by teens can be severe and far reaching.  

In June of 2009, the Sudbury Public Schools administered the Sudbury Adolescent Behavior Survey to students in grades six through eight. Largely based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the questionnaire was designed to gather information on some of the important issues facing youth in Sudbury, including substance use, and mental and physical health. 

According to the survey results, alcohol is the substance of choice for Sudbury middle school students, with 17 percent reporting that they had consumed alcohol in their lifetime, and five percent reporting that they had consumed it in the 30 days prior to the survey.  Overall, the percentage of 2009 middle school students who reported ever using substances increased with age/grade.  By spring of their eighth-grade year, approximately one quarter of the students (26 percent) reported that they had tried alcohol, one of every eight (13 percent) had tried cigarettes or cigars, one of 17 (six percent) had tried marijuana, and one of 19 (five percent) had tried inhalants.

While street drugs are readily available in many communities, many teens easily obtain over-the-counter or prescription medications from a variety of sources, including their family's medicine cabinet.  

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by Sudbury Public Schools, Youth Empowerment and Support (YES), and Parent Education Sudbury (PES).

For more information and to reserve your seat for this event, contact Elizabeth Messina at esmessina@aol.com or Betsy Grams at betsy_grams@sudbury.k12.ma.us