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Guilford DAY Looks Ahead

With plenty of events and campaigns coming up for Guilford Developmental Assets for Youth (DAY) this year, representatives stopped by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on Feb. 21 to give the board an update on the group’s previous accomplishments and goals for the future.

Guilford DAY recently received a five-year $125,000 Drug Free Communities grant. The group had received the same grant for the last five years after applying in 2010. The grant required a non-competitive renewal process for the five-year time frame, but became competitive again this year for year six. Youth & Family Services Program Director Karolin Regan said DAY was pleased to receive the grant again this year.

“We fortunately were awarded the grant through this competitive process,” she said. “We are currently in year six and will complete a non-competitive renewal process for each subsequent year through year 10.”

The grant is separate from the town budget and must follow strict guidelines to be used for reducing youth substance abuse in the community—abuse that Regan said is going down.

Every two years, students in grades 7 to 12 are surveyed through a Search Institute Survey that looks at substance abuse rates as well as overall perception of risk. Results of the 2016 survey were compiled in late January and Regan said the numbers are promising.

Of the 1,438 students surveyed, 18 percent of students reported using alcohol in a 30-day survey window compared to 24 percent in 2014. For marijuana, nine percent reported use in a 30-day window compared to 16 percent in 2014. However, for perception of risk questions, 68 percent of students responded that there was “some” or “a lot of risk” in using marijuana.

“We are not surprised with the perception of risk with marijuana,” she said. “That is really what we are working hard on now to be able to increase that and obviously we are up against the legalization issue.”

The data is sent to the schools and presented in community forums and Regan said the numbers help track what is going well and what issues might need more attention.

“We are able to track the progress we are making in reducing youth substance abuse in the community,” she said. “We can also determine how many assets Guilford youth have. The more assets kids have, the better. Youth with high asset levels are less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors and more likely to engage in thriving behaviors.”

Youth & Family Services Director Lyne Landry said DAY has provided a number of assets in the community to help students live substance free including Project Purple, the Color Run, DAY Week, and working with the Planning & Zoning Commission to change regulations so that no medical marijuana dispensaries can be established in town.

“Some of the other towns in Connecticut have used us as an example to be able to do that,” she said. “We are not saying we are against medical marijuana, we are just saying that we want to make sure we project a good image for our kids in town.”

The statewide conversation over the potential legalization of non-medicinal marijuana is of concern to DAY and will be a big focus for the group this year. DAY recently held a forum in town with state legislators to discuss the dangers of marijuana use and Landry said the group is hoping to hold a press conference on the issue up in Hartford soon.

“Our big push right now is the campaign against the legalization of non-medicinal marijuana,” she said. “We launched a major campaign to educate legislators. We cannot lobby because we receive federal money, but we can educate, so we have been doing a lot of that and the kids have, too.”

On the subject of potential legalization, many BOS members commented on the issues Colorado has faced since legalization and said it might not be the best choice for Connecticut.

“The main reason [the state is ] trying to legalize it in this state is purely financial,” said First Selectman Joe Mazza. “And my answer to the financial argument is just better management from the state.”

To learn more about Guilford DAY or see complete results of the Search Institute Survey, visit www.itsworthitguilford.org.