Letters to the Editor

Letter: Darien United Supports ‘Our Darien’ Campaign to Rein In Risky Drinking

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To the editor:

This letter expresses Darien United’s support of the “Our Darien” campaign launched by the Thriving Youth Task Force of The Community Fund of Darien. This Campaign is vital to our community as it addresses the important issue of underage binge drinking as well as how surrounding community-wide norms can contribute to adolescent alcohol abuse. Darien United is a coalition of youth workers representing churches in the community as well as the ministries we lead. We provide a platform of mutual collegial support and event planning in order to create safe spaces for students where they can be themselves, enjoy substance-free fun, and explore the intersection of life and faith. We are proud to be clergy members of the Thriving Youth Task Force as our missions inherently converge.

Healthy Living
CFD Year 3 Thriving Our Darien

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

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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.

Healthy Living
Risks Women Girls Alcohol 2019

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

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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.

Healthy Living

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

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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.

Public Safety
Brooke Rizzo mug shot

Police: Mother Supplied Booze at Birthday Party for Underage Son

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A Darien mother was arrested after she held a birthday party that included cases of beer and other alcoholic beverages for her son, who was under 21 years old, and his underage friends, police said. The woman, who had taken the car keys from attendees and told them they would have to get rides back home, said their parents knew about alcohol being served, according to police. When police questioned parents, they all denied they knew about the alcohol. Darien police described what happened in this announcement, including accusations not proven in court (quotes below are from the announcement):

At 10:37 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 29, police received a tip that there was under-age drinking at 237 Noroton Ave.