According to Wiscasset Patrol Officer Jonathan Barnes, issues with substance use are no rarity in town. The police department was handling another incident that week, he said Friday.

The department would like to be part of helping keep the situation from growing more severe, Sgt. Perry Hatch said.

Both were talking with other area people who felt the same. From healthcare professionals to school staff, church, media and healthcare and commerce representatives, an hourlong Zoom meeting Friday afternoon kicked off what Healthy Lincoln County Substance Use Prevention Coordinator Will Matteson hoped will be a coalition working on prevention for local youth. 

Matteson said in an email to the group ahead of the meeting, “Substance use prevention strategies work best when they are the results of a collective effort by the whole community. Professionals, parents, family members, friends, really all types of people are often doing good prevention work without realizing it,” he said.

“The idea of a coalition is to bring together leaders from all different parts of the community to discuss how we can make positive change for our students in a more intentional, coordinated, and formal way. The Drug Free Communities coalition model brings together community members from … business, civic, healthcare, law enforcement, media, parents, youth, religious/fraternal, schools, local government, substance use organizations and youth-serving organizations …,”  Matteson said. “This is really a grass-roots way for people who are concerned about youth substance use to get involved and engage with other leaders and influencers in the community (as a) network of people from each of the sectors who care about this topic and wish to see meaningful change in our youths’ mental health and substance use habits. Starting a coalition in Wiscasset now will help bring alignment to all of our individual activities, and may also open the door for important funding opportunities down the line.”

Participants plan to name the coalition and draft a mission statement; about 20 people were on the Zoom meeting. Among concerns raised were peer pressure; youth marijuana access now that adults can buy marijuana commercially; and social media.

Ideas floated included grant work; use of information from Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS); news pieces sharing youths’ and families’ experiences; adding a youth to the coalition; and working with other area coalitions.