Teen drinking can affect the brain

About 40 people turned out Wednesday night to discuss teen drinking, the long-term damage it causes to the brain, and what parents can do to help prevent it.

The meeting was the second such forum sponsored by the Black River Area Community Coalition, which formed in 2004 in response to concerns that teen drinking in the area was on the rise.

Guest speaker Robert Edwards, chief of police for Dover, has spent the last 10 years giving lectures on teen drinking, including speeches to the FBI National Academy and Pride Youth Programs, which encourage teens to be drug- and alcohol-free.

"This is about getting adults interested in this problem before it's too late," Edwards said. "The problem begins with parents but law enforcement has been given the problem."

Edwards made the argument that use of alcohol as a teen will make the user more prone to become an addict later in life.

Edwards said that in an individual's brain, the amygdala, which prompts pleasure-seeking behavior, forms early in life.

In contrast, Edwards said, the prefrontal cortex, the decision-making part of the brain that regulates impulse control, does not fully develop until a person is about 25 years old.

"This is a very important time and that's why you shouldn't put anything in your brain to impair it," Edwards said.

Edwards said alcohol use during the time the prefrontal cortex is still developing can permanently retard development, in essence halting a person's cognitive development.

Edwards said that as a police officer, he estimated between 80 and 85 percent of his calls are in some way substance-abuse-related.

"The older adults that we deal with do not have these skills," Edwards said. "We don't encounter people with substance abuse problems who say they started drinking at 21."

Edwards said that a person with an impaired prefrontal cortex is more likely to be impulsive, to lack coping and problem-solving skills, and will often not take responsibility for his actions.

Edwards's advice to parents, while not groundbreaking, was perhaps a good reminder. Set a curfew, be up when your kids come home, know who your kids are with and set reasonable consequences and enforce them.

Black River High School students appear to drink more frequently than most teens in the state, according to the Vermont Youth Risk Survey.

The survey — conducted in high schools statewide as a partnership between the Department of Health and the Department of Education — found that in 2005, 40 percent of Ludlow teens reported consuming at least one alcoholic beverage in the last 30 days.

This figure was just slightly higher than the statewide average of 37 percent.

In 2007, however, the percentage jumped to 49 percent, while the statewide average increased slightly to 39 percent, making Ludlow's teens 10 percent more likely to have consumed alcohol than their peers across the state.

While Ludlow teens are more likely to drink, they are not more likely to binge drink, according to the survey.

The survey found that 23 percent of Ludlow teens had binged on alcohol within the last 30 days in 2007, which is identical to the figure gathered statewide.

Binge drinking is defined by the survey as having consumed five or more drinks within a couple of hours.

Binge drinking is on the rise, both among Ludlow teens and across the state. Between 2005 and 2007, the percentage of binge-drinking Ludlow teens rose from 20 to 23 percent. During the same time, the statewide average rose from 21 to 23 percent.

In addition to discussing teen alcohol abuse, BRACC program coordinator Paul Faenza also had a display of energy drinks — both with alcohol and without — that he had found for sale between Ludlow and Rutland.

"We thought we should do this because I go into the schools and I see kids drinking these drinks and the parents don't know how much caffeine is in them," Faenza said.

Faenza found 45 different energy drinks by Red Bull, Amp and Monster and others, and labeled the caffeine content on the bottom of each can. Most cans had between 240 and 300 milligrams of caffeine. Vermont Poison Control states that a person can overdose on 1,000 milligrams of caffeine.

In addition, Faenza found energy drinks with both caffeine and alcohol, in some cases with alcohol contents of 8 percent. Faenza noted the cans with alcohol and without are nearly identical.

"I brought these cans up to the clerk at the store and she wasn't sure if they had alcohol or not," Faenza said.

Edwards said the long-term effects of caffeine abuse for teens is still being studied, but preliminary results have found the energy drinks can disturb their sleep cycles.

BRACC will hold its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. on May 13 at the Fletcher Memorial Library in Ludlow.

Rutland Herald