With Cape Elizabeth’s prom scheduled for this weekend and the recent alcohol-related death of a Cape Elizabeth High school student, the presentation on trends in drug and alcohol abuse Monday night seemed to come at a particularly appropriate time for the community.

Carol Falkowski, of the Hazelden Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that works with people suffering from addiction, gave the presentation to Cape Elizabeth students and parents at the middle school cafetorium. Falkowski highlighted the latest trends of teens and college students in the state and in the country for alcohol and drug abuse. After her presentation, a panel of school and town officials, including High School Principal Jeff Shedd and Police Chief Neil Williams, fielded questions from the audience.

Shedd began the presentation by talking about its relevance for the community at this time. Originally, he said, the program was scheduled in relation to the prom and the summer, which, with the absence of structure school provides, can be a difficult time for parents in monitoring their children’s behavior.

Shedd also acknowledged the recent death of Rachel McCarthy, which he said made the presentation “obviously a very timely topic.” McCarthy, 17, died on April 15 when she drove her car across the centerline on Shore Road and ran into a stone wall. On May 1, police released the results of a blood alcohol content test showing McCarthy at .09 percent. The legal limit for people over 21 is .08 percent. According to Captain Brent Sinclair, alcohol was determined to be a factor in the accident, which was originally explained as due to driver inexperience. McCarthy received her license on March 30 and was involved in another accident on April 5 in South Portland.

Perhaps the recent events played a role in the number of people attending the presentation. Falkowski said, “To have this kind of turnout in a community this size is absolutely amazing.”

Falkowski kept the tone light in talking about the heavy issues at hand by telling stories about her experiences as a presenter. However, when it came to talking about drug and alcohol problems, joking was put aside.

Falkowski said one of the major reasons getting information out to parents is that times have changed since they were teenagers making choices about their drug and alcohol use. She presented graphs and figures outlining substance abuse in high schools across the country today.

According to Falkowski, 75 percent of teenagers will drink alcohol before graduating from high school and 50 percent will smoke marijuana. Thirteen percent will take prescription opiates and six percent will try methamphetamine. She said research done in the 1990s showed that 40 percent of people who start drinking before the age of 15 develop alcoholism as opposed to 10 percent of people who wait until they turn 21.

Another effect of starting to drink at a young age is preventing the prefrontal cortex of the brain – which controls decision making and impulses – from fully developing. Also, recent animal studies show that alcohol has more long-lasting effects on memory for teens who drink than it does for adults. As a result, Falkowski said particular attention needs to be paid to delaying the onset of use.

Falkowski offered figures for substance abuse particular to the state. She said about half of high school seniors in Maine drank alcohol in the past 30 days, as have 38 percent of sophomores and 20 percent of eighth-graders.

“This is the world kids are growing up in, whether they talk about it or not,” she said.

Falkowski said there are also trends in the way teens drink – the current one is to get as much alcohol into their bodies as quickly as possible. She said that teens and college students use chugging games to assist with this goal. According to Falkowski, binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row at one sitting. Thirty percent of high school seniors in Maine have participated in binge drinking in the past two weeks, she said.

Falkowski revealed risks that aren’t directly related to alcohol but are more likely to be posed to people who drink. She said a study showed that six out of 10 boys between the ages of 12 and 17 think it’s okay to force a girl into sex if she has been drinking, calling alcohol, “the original date-rape drug.” Other effects are lower grades in school, more frequent illnesses and a greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

Falkowski also spoke about marijuana use, which she said is suffering from being normalized and often joked about in American culture.

“Until we stop snickering about marijuana, I don’t think we’re going to move off the money,” she said regarding the negative effects the drug is having on teenagers.

Falkowski also touched on increased heroin use that came about in the ’90s, the use of methamphetamine in order to lose weight or increase energy and productivity and the latest trend in abuse of prescription drugs. According to Falkowski, teens have “a nonchalant attitude about pills.” She said 20 percent of Maine high school seniors have taken a pill that was not prescribed to them.

Falkowski summarized the trends in drug and alcohol abuse. She said there are more choices and use is beginning at an earlier age. There’s an increase in availability and fewer differences in use between urban, suburban and rural communities.

Falkowski said the power of prevention is in the hands of parents, schools and communities. She said the worst thing to do is not communicate with kids.

“If you’re not saying ‘no,’ you’re saying ‘yes,'” she said.

Falkowski opened the floor to questions answered by herself and panel members, including Shedd, Williams, high school health teacher Andrea Cayer and high school social worker Katie Lisa.

Williams discussed the tendency for parents in the community to leave teens at home alone while they are out of town, which is when a lot of underage drinking occurs. He said it’s not necessarily the fault of the child whose house is free of parents.

“It goes through the high school like wildfire,” Williams said of kids’ parents being away. Having a few friends over can easily get out of hand, he said. In order to reduce this kind of behavior, Williams said the police department has been issuing summonses to people who provide a place for minors to consume alcohol.

“We’ve been very diligent about that,” he said.

Shedd talked about the effectiveness of the athletic contracts that student-athletes sign, pledging not to drink, calling it “marginally successful.”

“Appearances are very important in this community,” Shedd said, explaining that parents get behind the athletic contract until it’s their own kid that needs to be disciplined. Shedd said everyone needs to be more open to talking about this problem.

“The great enemy is the code of silence that’s out there in the community,” she said.

One audience member, who refused to give her name, tried to break that code by speaking up about how uncomfortable she was when alcohol was served at a reception for McCarthy.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I’m doing this partly to break the silence.” Falkowski had spoken about the behavior of parents influencing the decision of their children to use alcohol.

Lisa said, “I think this is an opportunity to start speaking the truth.”

Andrea Cayer, who has been a teacher in Cape Elizabeth for 37 years, offered her unqiue perspective on the problem and its progress within the community.

“I’m just thinking about the years that I’ve been here. I’ve seen the struggle; I’ve seen the meetings on nights like this,” she said. “We just can’t give up.”