Call to Action: STOP Underage Drinking
When: Wednesday, May 7th at 6:30 pm (Refreshments starting at 6:00)
Where: Katahdin Region Higher Education Center.
Special Guest Speaker: Maine First Lady Karen Baldacci will discuss ways communities can make positive change to reduce underage drinking.

We will also have a panel of "local experts" to talk about how underage drinking is impacting our communities, and what we can do to help prevent it.

The Katahdin Area Partnership is hosting a community talk about underage drinking.

Underage drinking is a serious problem despite the laws against it. Our youth are using alcohol more than tobacco or other illegal drugs. As a community we can work together to reduce underage drinking in the Katahdin Region.

Did you know?

Fact: Drinking alcohol can cause learning problems or lead to adult alcoholism. People who begin drinking by age 15 are five times more likely to abuse or become dependent on alcohol than those who begin drinking after age 20.

Fact: Parents underestimate how early drinking begins, the amount they drink, the risks and consequences that drinking creates for both drinkers and non-drinkers. Too often, parents believe, "Not my child". Yet by age 15, about one-half of America's boys and girls have had a whole drink of alcohol, not just a few sips.

We have local information that says children as young as 6th grade are trying alcohol.

This is a real problem that needs to be addressed as a community.

Plan to attend and leam how to be part ofthe solution.

Respectively,
Jane D. McGillicuddy
Katahdin Area Partnership