Underage drinking and drug use is a problem that has been long recognized across the nation as one of the major potentially harmful and even fatal issues that youth face today.

In Clinton County for the past 10 years, an annual event that brings health field organizations and emergency personnel and officials together to give high school aged youth an up-close look at some of the dangers and perils of alcohol and drug use.

Known as Truth and Consequences: The Choice is Yours, the event has been held for the past several years at the Clinton County Fairgrounds Community Building and is an enrichment activity designed to show students the impact of getting involved with illicit and illegal substances.

The Truth and Consequences program was the brainchild of Christy Nuetzman, who is Clinton County’s Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences at the local U.K. Extension Office, and earlier this month she was recognized for producing the event, among other accomplishments, by the University of Kentucky.

Nuetzman was one of three members of the University of Kentucky School of Human Environmental Sciences who were recently named recipients of the school’s prestigious Patricia Brantley Todd Awards of Excellence.

The biannual awards recognize individuals within the school, which is part of the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

In addition to the honor that goes along with being named a recipient, Nuetzman also received $1000.

The awards are named for Todd, a school alumna and wife of former UK president Lee T. Todd, Jr. The Todds fund the $1,000 awards.

“I was quite surprised and humbled to receive the award. It is a huge honor,” Nuetzman told the Clinton County News last week. “As County Extension Agents with the UK Cooperative Extension Service, our work focuses on improving the quality of life for our citizens by addressing locally identified needs and providing research based education.”

In a press release issued last week announcing that Nuetzman had been named a recipient of the Todd Award, the University of Kentucky noted that not only were high school students in Clinton County benefiting from the annual event, but her idea was now being copied by other communities in Kentucky as well as other parts of the nation.

“Recognizing the need for substance abuse education for youth in Clinton County, Nuetzman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, created a role-playing simulation program that explores the realities of all forms of substance abuse and misuse,” the press release noted. “In the past programming year, 33 Kentucky counties conducted the program, called Truth and Consequences: The Choice is Yours. The program is also being used in other states.”

Nuetzman told the Clinton County News that she developed Truth and Consequences after recognizing the seriousness of drug and alcohol use among the youth of Clinton County.

“Substance abuse has been a major area of concern for our community for a number of years,” Nuetzman said. “Our first T & C was held in 2006 when I was working on the diverted prescription grant with Adanta. I worked to get it published and copyrighted as a UK FCS Extension Program in 2010. ”

During each annual production of the program, students role-play scenarios including possession of prescription drugs; driving under the influence; sniffing; possession of alcohol, and stealing drugs; etc.

At the same time, members of the community are also involved with local law enforcement officers, emergency medical crews and elected officials joining in to give each enactment a degree of realism that has a lasting effect on the young audience members, often moving them to tears.

“Needless to say, I am super excited about the award. Never expected to receive it,” Nuetzman said. I don’t consider myself one of the top dogs in Extension, but I’m honored that others do.”

Nuetzman added also that the $1,000 monetary award that came along with the honor was appreciated as well.

She also said that she is certain that the program not only has a noticeable effect on the students at the time of the production, but she’s convinced from comments many of the students have made to her that the results are long-lasting as well.

Among the comments and evaluations she has received from students who witnessed a production of Truth and Consequences were:

“I learned not to drink or buy alcohol while underage or there will be consequences.

“Being put in the back of a cop car isn’t fun and being under the influence can and will cause you to do things that you normally wouldn’t do.

“I’ve learned that your mistakes now could affect your future.

“If anything, being a part of this program has taught me the value of avoiding drugs. Obviously, nothing good can come from substances that do nothing but impair someone’s thoughts.”

Nuetzman also knows her program is having positive results through some survey results that produced astounding changes in several areas.

The survey, performed by an organization known as the Kentucky Incentives for Prevention (KIP), has been in place since 2003, and provides information about student self-reported use of substances as well as student perceptions about substance use (e.g., level of risk, peer and parent.

According to the survey results, teen use in Clinton County has dropped in several categories addressed by the Truth and Consequences program each year.

For instance, in 2006, 32 percent of local students in the 10th grade reported having used alcohol in a 30 day period when the survey was taken, while in 2014, that percentage had dropped to 22 percent.

As for the use of cigarettes, in 2006, 25 percent of 10th graders had reported using cigarettes while in 2014, that percentage had dropped to 19 percent.

Finally, as for marijuana use among 10th graders, in 2006, 10 percent reported using the substance during the 30 day period preceding the administration of the survey that year, while in 2014, that percentage had dropped to eight percent.

Nuetzman said although she is proud of the honor of receiving the award, she certainly realizes that she has to share it with a large number of people who have worked alongside here through the years to insure the success of each production.

“I love my job and the people I work with locally and throughout the state. I am fortunate to work in my hometown and with some outstanding community partners,” she said. “Much of the honor goes to community partners who took a chance to think outside the box a few years ago and have continued to work with us each year on Truth and Consequences: The Choice is Yours.”

She added that while knowing the program has positively effected the youth of Clinton County, also knowing that high school aged audiences in other communities are benefiting from the idea that began in Clinton County is even more special.

“The program continues to make a difference locally and now is impacting youth throughout the state,” Nuetzman said. “I am proud of our community and our work.”

Drug and alcohol issues aren’t the only things Nuetzman has addressed in her role as a leader of the community as well as the family and consumer sciences extension agent for Clinton County.

She has also tackled obesity issues in Albany and Clinton County.

Through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant she has worked with community partners to improve local infrastructure and capacity to help fellow Clinton Countians make better health choices.

Along those lines, she most recently organized a session attended by several members of the community with Mark Fenton, an expert in “walkable communities”.

The session was designed to evaluate the current accessibility of the community as far as walking and biking is concerned, and will provide suggestions as to ways that improvements can be made in those areas.

That program is also tied to Nuetzman’s efforts and the Clinton Count EPHECT Health Coalition that is charged with the goal of providing more options that would allow local citizens to make healthier lifestyle choices and thus achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the obesity and chronic illness rates here.

That Coalition, much through the efforts of Nuetzman, was recently named as one of six counties to share in a $1.8 million grant program specifically to target those goals.