Drinking in Darien

Girl Injured in Fall From Basement Stairs at Teen Party with Alcohol, Two Arrests

Girl Injured in Fall From Basement Stairs at Teen Party with Alcohol, Two Arrests

‘What NOT to Teach Your Teen’ About Drinking: Hear from an Expert Wednesday Night, Nov 20

Police: Man, 43, Encouraged Two Underage Caddies to Drink Alcohol, Held Drinking Games on Golf Course

Men and Women Face Different Hurdles When Recovering From Addiction, Says Treatment Agency

Where the Community Fund of Darien’s ‘Our Darien’ Campaign Is Going in Year 3

More Drinking, Alcoholism Among Women Now, and They Face Particular Risks

Letter: Come to the April 10 Discussion on Women and Alcohol

Ruining Your Life by Christmas Party, Part II: Your Own Party (Happy Holidays!)

Police: DUI for 19-Year-Old Driver, Narcotics, Pot Possession, Other Charges for Passenger

Thriving Youth Task Force Announces ‘Our Darien 2.0’ Campaign

Darien High School Fighting Substance Abuse in a New Way: With Student/Parent Info Sessions on the Dangers

Op Ed: Community Fund of Darien’s Teen Binge Drinking Campaign Gets National Recognition

Mother of Teen Charged with Failing to Halt Alcohol Possession at Daughter’s 18th Birthday Party

Mother and Daughter Charged After Police Go to Under-Age Party with Alcohol

Arrest at a Party

By David Gurliacci | February 19, 2020

Arrest at a Party

By David Gurliacci | February 19, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | November 3, 2019

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | August 19, 2019

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 13, 2019

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 3, 2019

Healthy Living

By MOUNTAINSIDE TREATMENT CENTERS | April 1, 2019

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 1, 2019

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | December 7, 2018

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | November 27, 2018

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | October 30, 2017

Education

By David Gurliacci | September 30, 2017

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | September 29, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | July 3, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | June 26, 2017

A Darien girl fell from a basement stairway and hurt her head late Saturday night during a teenage party with alcohol on Half Mile Road, Darien police said. Police arrested two people that night: One, a nanny who knew about the party and the alcohol being served at it; the other, an 18-year-old Post 53 member, off-duty, who moved the girl, which risked further injury to the girl, police said. The girl was taken by Darien Emergency Medical Services-Post 53 to Stamford Hospital for further evaluation, police said. Police did not say what her condition was. Police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

At 11:59 p.m., Saturday, police were called to 88 Half Mile Road by a “third party” caller who said a girl had fallen down a flight of stairs and was injured.

At 11:59 p.m., Saturday, police were called to 88 Half Mile Road by a “third party” caller who said a girl had fallen down a flight of stairs and was injured.

Every parent wants to send their child off to college fully prepared. You teach them how to do laundry, how to budget time and money, and how to navigate tricky roommate situations. What NOT to teach your teen? How to drink. On Wednesday, Nov.

Darien police arrest photo James Hurty, 43, of the Post Road in Darien

A 43-year-old Darien man golfing at Wee Burn Country Club not only provided alcohol to two caddies, both under 21, but encouraged them to drink more by holding drinking games, police said. The man’s encouragement was “somewhat forceful” in the words of the Darien police announcement, which relied on the accounts of one or both of the caddies. Later that day, June 25, one of the caddies was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated. Police provided this further information about the matter, including accusations not proven in court (all quotes are from the police announcement, not from witnesses):

Blaine Hurty, 43, of the Post Road, provided alcohol to the caddies “throughout the day,” according to the announcement. He not only encouraged them to drink, but he got so intoxicated that he himself could no longer play, and he let the caddies play, holding small contests for them, in which the loser was supposed to have “an entire alcohol drink.”

Image from https://archives.drugabuse.gov/publications/women-drug-abuse/many-women-are-afraid-to-seek-treatment

If you’ve recovered from an addiction yourself and know of someone of the opposite sex who’s trying to recover from one now, you may not realize that the challenges of recovery can be different for men than they are for women. This article, contributed by Mountainside Treatment Center, which has a location in Wilton, discusses what’s different (individuals will, of course, vary — this article discusses generalized group differences):

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), men and women face similar odds of developing substance use disorders. Despite this fact, women and men encounter unique hurdles in their efforts to achieve sobriety, due to several biological and social factors. Here are four ways addiction distinctly affects male and female substance users:
1. Addicted women are more stigmatized.

In the third year of the Community Fund of Darien’s “Our Darien” campaign against underage drinking and binge drinking in town, the organization has released this op-ed article, particularly for parents, describing the problem in town. The CFD is presenting more research from experts on alcohol use and focusing on Darien’s own problems with alcohol identified in its latest surveys of teens and parents, including lax parental views of teen partying with alcohol and how the behavior of parents strongly affects the behavior of teenagers. The organization notes (as it has before) that Darien has significantly higher rates of teen drinking than the nation as a whole. It also notes the dangers of that for the long-term: Those who start drinking earlier are far more likely to have alcohol abuse problems later in life. This passage summarizes the whole:

Entering its third year, the “Our Darien” campaign is aimed at providing teens and parents with the facts about underage drinking.

Women have made many economic and social advancements, but another gender gap is closing: drinking rates among men and women. Researchers believe that rates of female alcohol consumption — and alcoholism — have escalated due to shifting cultural messages about women’s drinking, along with the growing number of women turning to alcohol to alleviate stress. — an article from Mountainside Treatment Centers (illustrations added by Darienite.com)
A 2017 study from the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that drinking rates increased significantly among the general public from 2002 to 2013, and the frequency of high-risk drinking among women in particular spiked by 58 percent. More alarmingly, the study revealed that rates of alcoholism among women rose by 84 percent during the same period. The rise in women’s drinking over the past two decades is not a coincidence.

To the editor,

I wanted to bring your attention to the upcoming “Women & Alcohol: A Community Conversation” event being held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 10 at Darien Library. The event is being put on by the Darien Library and YWCA Darien/Norwalk as an evening to have an honest dialogue with local experts on alcohol and women’s health, social drinking, role modeling and the rise of alcohol use among women. The event came about because I noticed the emphasis on alcohol in our community, the way drinking is made light of on social media and how women are being increasingly marketed to by advertisers. This coinciding with the significant increase in alcoholism in women and alcohol-related deaths made me want to have a community conversation around it. I took this idea to the YWCA who in turn brought it to the Darien Library and the conversation began in earnest to make this forum happen.

The holidays are filled with festive family, friend and work celebrations that often involve alcohol. The team at Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers wants everyone to enjoy getting together, while making sure everyone gets home safely. — This article is from an announcement from Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers. Part I in this series involved the office Christmas party. If you provide your holiday party guests with enough booze that they get into trouble on the way home, you may be facing these attorneys in court.

When police stopped a gray Honda Accord on West Avenue at about 12:30 Wednesday morning, Nov. 21, they determined the driver was intoxicated with alcohol, and his passenger, also intoxicated, had marijuana and traces of cocaine in his backpack, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

As the 19-year-old driver traveled east on West Avenue, the police officer saw the car cross the center dividing lines on the road several times. The officer stopped the vehicle at 12:31 near the intersection of West Avenue and Edgerton Street. When speaking to the driver, the officer smelled an alcoholic beverage.

The Town of Darien is above par on many indicators of success. When it comes to parenting, we excel at providing our children with every opportunity to nurture their potential. We feed them organic whole foods, we limit sugar intake, sign them up for tutoring, encourage stimulating extra-curricular activities, and make sure they get enough sleep at night. ____________

— This is an announcement from Darien’s Thriving Youth Task Force, an Initiative of The Community Fund of Darien. Darienite has added images from the OurDarien.com website.

All but 226 Darien High School students (less than one in seven) has participated in a presentation in which a Silver Hill Hospital, a lawyer and police officers talk about the problems teens have when they take alcohol, marijuana or other illegal drugs or alcohol. The students must attend the 90-minute session with a parent or guardian. Both student and adult must attend in order for the student to participate in sports or other extra-curricular activities. Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner reported the attendance information to the Board of Education on Tuesday. The sessions began over the summer, and the last one (until winter) was held Sept.

This opinion piece/announcement is by Carrie Bernier, executive director of the Community Fund of Darien:

The Community Fund’s Thriving Youth Task Force has set its sights on reducing teenage binge drinking in Darien. When they launched the “Our Darien 06820” campaign last winter, they hoped to hit a nerve locally with parents and teens. They didn’t suspect that it would strike a chord nationally, too. Emily Larkin, The Community Fund of Darien’s Thriving Youth director, recently returned from California after presenting Darien’s innovative “06820” campaign to a national audience of substance abuse professionals.

Darien’s binge drinking prevention campaign is the product of a collaboration between The Community Fund of Darien, the Thriving Youth Task Force and the creative team at Colangelo Synergy Marketing.

A Mansfield Avenue woman, 50, was charged with a misdemeanor by Darien police, who determined she knew or should have known that alcohol was being served at her daughter’s 18th birthday party. Police described the Tuesday, June 27 incident with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

Police went to 328 Mansfield Ave. at about 10:28 p.m., after receiving a message on the department’s anonymous tip line about a teen party with alcohol. When they went to the scene, they saw cars from several taxi services pulling up to the driveway. Police also saw five youths running away and two others, a male and a female, starting to walk away on Mansfield Avenue.

« August 2022 »

Darien police say that when they arrived at a teenager’s party where alcohol was consumed, partygoers told police that they had brought alcohol themselves and the host hadn’t provided it. The partygoers, all young women, even showed police text messages — but in one of the messages said the host’s mother was fine with having alcohol at the party, according to police. Police gave this additional information about the incident, including accusations not proven in court:

At about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 25, an anonymous tip alerted police to a party at 17 Goodwives River Road. When police showed up there, they found alcohol and 13 females, ranging in age from 17 to 19. The host, Alexandra Barnard, who turned 19 that day, at first told police that she had supplied the alcohol, but then retracted that and said the partygoers had each brought their own booze.