OAKLAND -- Scott Tracy told his friends in high school that he could not drink or do drugs.

He knew it would make him look bad, make his parents look bad and it would interfere with his involvement in sports.

It turns out that there was another really good reason not to do it.

"My junior year, I had a couple of friends die in a car accident," he said.

Tracy, who will be a junior at New England College in the fall, was talking to about 80 people who turned out Monday night for a forum on underage drinking, held in the Messalonskee Performing Arts Center. Tracy is a 2006 Messalonskee High School graduate.

The forum was designed to enlighten parents, youths, teachers and others about underage drinking and drug use, how it can affect a community and what people can do to help alleviate the problem. The drinking age in Maine is 21.

The forum, sponsored by several organizations, including Greater Waterville Prevention Coalition, is one of many being held throughout the country as part of the U.S. Surgeon General's call to address the issue.

Tracy, the son of police Chief Michael Tracy and School Board member Laura Tracy, was one of several panel members who talked Monday about their experiences with underage drinking.

Scott Tracy urged parents to set limits for their children and tell them that it is not OK to drink and do drugs.

His said his parents were good role models for him when he was in high school; his father always told him it was always OK for him to call if he needed a ride from anywhere -- no questions asked.

When he got to college, he had to become his own parent when making a choice between studying for final exams or going to a party, he said.

His friends would go to parties and talk the next day about what a good time they had, but their grades suffered, he said.

"I'm pretty proud to say I have somewhat decent grades and I can stay away from that," he said.

Anne Jordan, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, told a tragic story about a high school student who was killed in an alcohol-related accident several years ago when she was a prosecutor on-call to answer questions for police in certain situations. One night she responded to an accident scene.

A couple wanted to host a safe place for teens to party at graduation and so the father bought beer for them and took their car keys, Jordan said.

But not all of the keys were taken. Some youths got into a pickup truck, the driver lost control on a dark, narrow road and flipped the truck. A boy was thrown from the back of the truck and died, not from hitting his head, but from drowning because he landed face-first in a ditch full of water and was not found in time to save him, according to Jordan. The parent who had the party did jail time for supplying the beer and in a subsequent law suit, the family lost its home, she said.

Jordan said she still remembers the faces of the young people in the night -- and the dead boy lying in the ditch.

"I know how devastating it was to me and I was 25," she said. Further sobering reports came at Monday's forum from James Douglas, a parent and physician who recounted some of his experiences working in an emergency room and seeing the consequences of underage drinking.

He said he saw the basic stuff -- hangovers and gastritis, but he also saw cases in which parents reported they did not know what was wrong with their child, who had lost interest in sports and other activities. "Frequently, it's related to alcohol or substance abuse," he said. "It's not unusual."

Drinking, he said, can lower one's inhibitions and lead to abuse of other substances; sometimes the results can be devastating. Youths under the influence may engage in sex when they otherwise would not, and that can lead to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, he said. Date rape and sexual assault also can occur. In some of the worst cases, people can get alcohol poisoning and die, or pass out and drown in their own vomit, he said.

"Any person that becomes unconscious or can't be aroused is at risk of dying," he said.

School Administrative District 47 includes Oakland, Belgrade, Sidney and Rome. SAD 47 Superintendent James Morse Sr. said high and middle school students take a survey every other year about alcohol and substance abuse and the results show most students in the district do not engage in the activity but that does not mean the problem is any less of a concern to school officials.

Jordan said parents need to be aware of the reality of the situation.

Ask any high school or middle school student where he can buy beer in town, how to quickly obtain marijuana or where they can get pills or cocaine, she said.

"I think you'd be shocked to see the answers," she said.

Other forum sponsors were SAD 47; Oakland police; Healthy Maine Partnership of Greater Waterville; MaineGeneral Prevention Center; Greater Waterville Planned Approach to Community Health; and Interagency Coordinating Committee for the Prevention of Underage Drinking.

Amy Calder -- 861- 9247

acalder@centralmaine.com