It might seem like we're always hearing stories about rampant drug and alcohol abuse by young people in Maine.  But the statistics actually point to a decline, at least among teenagers.  A substance-abuse prevention program in midcoast Maine was in the national spotlight this morning. "Five Town Communities That Care" is being touted as a model for how to reach children early, and give them skills to use when temptation comes calling.

It might seem like we're always hearing stories about rampant drug and alcohol abuse by young people in Maine.  But the statistics actually point to a decline, at least among teenagers.  A substance-abuse prevention program in midcoast Maine was in the national spotlight this morning. "Five Town Communities That Care" is being touted as a model for how to reach children early, and give them skills to use when temptation comes calling.

The stage of the Camden Opera house is filled with lights, cameras, monitor speakers, and people -- local citizens from Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville, Appleton and Hope, who have had some role in "Five Town Communities that Care."  They've been invited to take part in a satellite town meeting with national drug prevention officials in Washington.

Among them:  Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske and Dr. Nora D. Volkow.  "Hello, I'm Nora Volkow. I direct the National Institute on Drug Abuse and I want to welcome you to this program where we will be discussing how to empower communities to implement effective preventions for substance abuse in the community," Volkow said.

Also featured in the hour-long press event:  a short video with supportive testimony from community leaders, including Camden Police Chief Philip Roberts.

"I hear comments back from the officers doing foot patrol that the attitude is much better, more receptive. We don't get the hostility that we got a few years ago." 

This is just the most recent recognition of Five Town Communities That Care, which was started in 2003 at a time when the Camden area was getting publicity that it would rather not have had.

"Yes, statistically, the midcoast area of Maine was very high in alcohol and marijuana use," says Peter Russell, board chair of Five Town Communities That Care, which he says is based on much more than the oft-quoted  "just say no" messaging of earlier drug prevention efforts.

"You have to give children a reason -- you can't simply say 'no.'  You have to explain to them why it's not a good idea, what the risks are, what the long-term risks are and what might be gateway drugs," Russell says.

"We get a lot of people come to talk us about not doing drugs, and I don't think that any of us really feel like doing that any more," says 12-year-old Carly Dorsky, a 7th grader at Appleton Village School.  Dorsky has taken part in the so-called "STAR" after-school program, which is aimed at teaching kids skills they can use to become involved in the community.

Dorsky says drugs and alcohol just aren't "cool" anymore.  "I know a while ago it was more, well, people thought it was cool to do that about 7 years ago.  Now we just don't think that any more, it's just not cool."

Carly's father Jim Dorsky says while kids are getting an early jump on how to handle more intense peer pressure that will come later in high school,  parents are also being made aware of the messages they may be sending to their children at home.

"Well, you know, they're going to see their parents and other adults enjoying a drink now and then, but I mean there's something to being responsible in how you handle that, and parents have to be role models for their kids," he says.

The successes of the Five Town Communities That Care are now being well-documented by data collected over the past four years. According to surveys, binge drinking among high school sophomores in Camden has been nearly cut in half over a four-year period, as has the percentage of eighth graders who said they had been drunk or high while at school.

"One of the little pieces of data we've had is we've had a 66 percent reduction in 8th grade marijuana use in just four years," says Dalene Dutton, Executive Director of Five Town CTC.  "The other thing that it's allowed us to do is to increase the amount of collaboration in our communities.  The tools are really wonderful for helping us do that."

Advocates of the Communities That Care model, acknowledge that not all towns have the social and financial supports that relatively wealthy towns such as Camden and Rockport enjoy. But they believe that the basic principles can be applied anywhere.

Over the last five years, researchers at the National Institutes of Health followed Camden and 11 other towns as each implemented the CTC system and compared them to 12 communities that didn't.  The research shows that eighth graders in the CTC towns were 30 percent less likely to take up alcohol and tobacco.