February 1st, 2017

Today 3 of our members spoke at the statehouse opposing a bill that would legalize marijuana in the state of NH. Here is an excerpt from their testimony…

“One concern of ours is that marijuana is already perceived by youth to be less harmful than tobacco. According to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 60% of high school students in New Hampshire think that marijuana is harmless. If this drug is legalized, it will further convince teens that marijuana is harmless, when in reality it has many dangerous consequences. (more…)

Testimony of Dover Youth to Youth
Smoking in Cars with Youth Present
SB 145

Hello my name is Hannah Martescello. My name is William Demers, and my name is Kylan Mastro, and we are from Dover Youth to Youth — a large drug and alcohol abuse prevention student organization in Dover NH. We have 70 members who meet in 4 different groups to plan and conduct prevention projects in our community. And we are here to urge you to vote to pass SB 145.

One of our biggest health concerns is Second Hand Smoke. Second Hand Smoke can affect the natural development of the lungs, and this can cause long term, if not permanent, damage. Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which can cause cancers, such as lung cancer, lymphoma, brain tumors in children, and leukemia (American Cancer Society Website). It is also linked to various diseases, and illnesses such as asthma, lower respiratory tract infections, and increased severe dementia syndromes (health.act.gov.au). Almost 1 million asthmatic kids in the U.S. suffer from increased problems due to Second Hand Smoke. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) states that “second hand smoke increases the number of asthma attacks and severity of asthma symptoms…” (smokefree.gov). (more…)

On Tuesday, September 13th students of Dover Youth to Youth presented a workshop titled “Empowering Youth in Policy Change and Advocacy” at the National Prevention Network Conference in Buffalo NY. (more…)

Members of Dover Youth to Youth were in downtown Dover NH – along with students from other communities, including Rochester, Epping, Somersworth, Milton and Newmarket – to make the community aware of the problem of opiate addiction and our support of the Anyone Anytime awareness campaign.

The Anyone Anytime Campaign is designed to send the message to the public that:

Anyone can experience addiction

• Anyone can ask for help
• Anyone can recover
• Anyone can save a life

11 year old Brielle Early of Dover Y2Y said, “We feel this is important because many people are impacted in very serious ways. We are particularly concerned about the fact that anyone anytime can become addicted to opioids.

We feel that this is a very serious problem and it is affecting our state and our communities. Last year about 400 people died in New Hampshire from opioid overdose. This includes 12 deaths right here in Dover. 

By holding this informational demonstration we hope to help people understand that there are many major consequences and anyone can be a victim of the epidemic.

And anyone can ask for help, and anyone can recover”

(more…)

The Board of Trustees at Wentworth-Douglass unanimously approved a $125,000 grant earlier this month to the City of Dover Police Department to offer ongoing support for the organization’s Community Outreach Bureau with specific emphasis on awareness and prevention of opioid abuse.
The Dover Youth to Youth (Y2Y) Program and the Dover Coalition for Youth will utilize the grant funding to continue working to improve the quality of life in Dover for youth and families by preventing the harm caused by substance abuse. (more…)

DOVER — The City Council on Wednesday night voted unanimously to ban the use of electronic cigarettes where regular cigarettes are already banned on city property. This includes on school grounds and on city athletic fields.

Dover Youth to Youth, an alcohol and drug prevention group, brought the resolution to the council. Prior to the vote to approve the measure, Hannah Martuscello, Haley Demeris and Emma Foss, three Youth to Youth members, spoke on behalf of the organization during citizens’ forum.

“It will protect family aspects on public grounds and sports fields,” Demeris told Foster’s. “… And it will eliminate the negative influence that e-cigs can have on children.”

As Demeris noted to the councilors, children who see adults using electronic cigarettes are more likely to think it is okay to use the devices. (more…)

Group calls out retailers for underage sales

Members of Dover Youth 2 Youth show off some of the merchandise promoting marijuana use sold to children and teens in the group Tuesday afternoon in Dover.

Members of Dover Youth 2 Youth show off some of the merchandise promoting marijuana use sold to children and teens in the group Tuesday afternoon in Dover. Photo by Shawn St.Hilaire/Fosters.com

Zoom| (more…)

On July 6-10 Dover Youth to Youth held its annual Summer Training program for new members at the McConnell Center. 20 prospective new Youth to Youth members participated in this year’s training. In addition, students from Rochester, Milton, Newmarket, Epping, and Franklin attended. The program also included an adult advisor component that attracted people from as far away as Nebraska.

During the week, these sparticipants received a wide variety of drug prevention presentations, received advocacy skills training, and engaged in a wide assortment of prevention projects and activities. (more…)