SADD, State Working Together To Curb Underage Drinking

One might expect a package store to be on the lookout for minors using fake IDs, but few people would expect minors to bust a package store for selling alcohol to them. But in Connecticut, students do exactly that. This year, as of mid-August, students have gone undercover and completed 412 compliance checks, with 97 resulting in a bust. And there are more checks scheduled for the remainder of the year. “We train, transport, and give students everything they need to go undercover, and we still have about a 25 percent rate of stores selling to minors,” said Rachel Bruno, the state coordinator for Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD.

Teen Drug And Alcohol Use Declines, But Binge Drinking Persists

It seems to be that the ever-present push on reducing drug and alcohol use in teens is working. According to the Connecticut Youth Behavior Survey, in 2011, 37 percent of participants stated they had never had a drink of alcohol, compared to 25.5 percent in 2005. While 60.4 percent said they had never tried marijuana in 2011 as compared to 60.2 percent in 2005, heavy use also appears to be down. Only 9.3 percent had used the drug 100 or more times, down from 10.4 percent in 2005. In addition, fewer teens had tried cocaine in 2011 (95 percent and 92.2 percent, respectively) as well as inhalants (91percent vs.