Rhode Island
Cannabis use is rising among R.I. middle schoolers; high school alcohol use is down, survey finds • Rhode Island Current
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Yesterday’s vices have lost some favor among Rhode Island’s teens and preteens, a new survey suggests.
And yet cannabis seems to have found a bigger audience — namely among middle schoolers — according to the 2024 Rhode Island Student Survey, which is conducted every two years by the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals (BHDDH) with help from the state’s health and education departments.
Students overall reported using fewer substances of all kinds, but pot consumption rose significantly among the middle-school demographic, with 7.8% using it in the past 30 days, an increase from the 5.4% usage observed by the last survey in 2022. Middle schoolers used cannabis more than any other drug, including alcohol.
“That’s not the good news,” said BHDDH Director Richard Leclerc at a presentation of survey results Tuesday at Classical High School.
Leclerc instead pointed to results that show substance use reported by Rhode Island high school students is largely stagnant or slowly declining. Among high schoolers, for instance, past 30-day use of marijuana dropped from 14.9% to 10.9%.
This year’s report surveyed over 23,000 students in 29 school districts, including Providence for the first time. The online, 30-minute survey featured 81 questions — with several new ones about gambling and cellphone use added this year — and was offered in English and Spanish. Students in grades six through 12 participated voluntarily with parental permission, and each respondent received a brochure with information for resources or support.
Middle and high school students in this year’s survey said they used alcohol, vapes, cigarettes and sedatives at rates smaller than in recent years, and most kids believe that family and friends would disapprove of substance use.
“The numbers you see today show that our prevention efforts are working,” Leclerc said.
Rebecca Elwell, regional director of the state-partnered Newport County Prevention Coalition, agreed. “We work every day to build a safety network for the young people in the state of Rhode Island, through strengthening their positive attributes and addressing the risk factors that young people face,” Elwell said. “Prevention is a science. We use evidence based strategies that have been tested and replicated.”
The peer and parental pressure to not do drugs was reflected in student responses about actual use. Reports of marijuana use in the past 30 days dropped from roughly one in seven high school students to one in nine, while e-cigarette and vape use fell from one in eight to one in 14. Alcohol use showed marked decline among high schoolers, with rates dropping from 14.5% to 10%. Fewer students reported being passengers in cars with impaired drivers.
The numbers you see today show that our prevention efforts are working.
– Richard Leclerc , director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals
Simone Punchak, a senior at Classical High School, told those gathered for Tuesday’s program that her experience as a member of the Mayor’s Youth Prevention Team has taught her “that prevention is not just about ensuring that others are limited from potential risks, but that they are provided with the opportunities for success.”
“The Rhode Island Student Survey is a powerful tool in this effort,” Punchak said. “The data it provides helps us better understand our challenges and guides us in building stronger programs for the future.”
The data report also crunches the numbers for different regions in Rhode Island, a unique feature important to securing federal funding for prevention efforts. Regional profiles can be found on the BHDDH website.
The slowly waning rates of substance use among today’s high schoolers, whatever the cause, is even starker when compared to teens at the turn of the millennium. Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 1997 showed that 36% of Rhode Islander’s high schoolers had been in a car with an impaired driver. In 2024, only 14% of high schoolers said the same on the Rhode Island Student Survey.
But Colleen Judge, director of student assistance services of school-based prevention nonprofit Rhode Island Student Assistant Services, pointed out that some things stay the same. “We need to remember that adolescence is challenging,” she said. “How could you forget?”
Other highlights from the survey included:
- Eighth and ninth graders comprised 25% and 22% of respondents. High school juniors and seniors responded at rates of 4% and 3%, respectively. Overall, male and female participants were about evenly split at just under half across grade levels. Transgender students and students with other gender identities made up about 4% of survey respondents.
- Bullying rates dipped a handful of percentage points in the midst of the pandemic in the 2020 survey but have since returned to their pre-pandemic levels. That still didn’t translate to any major increases among high schoolers, but middle schoolers reported a two or three percentage point increase in bullying online or by text.
- An average of about 38% of students across grades admitted they had “made fun of other people,” while 16% of middle schoolers said they had spread rumors, and another 15% had sent hurtful texts or pictures to a peer.
- Less than 15% of both middle and high school students said they had “considered attempting” suicide. Among the high school students who reported having suicidal thoughts, 35% made an attempt, down from 41% in 2022. (The rate was 35% in 2018.) But middle schoolers who made suicide attempts rose from 45% in 2022 to 46% in this year’s survey.
The appeal of scratch lottery tickets
Gambling and screen time, newly added in this year’s survey questions, couldn’t be compared to past years’ data but both appeared to be relatively popular habits.
About 21% of students reported they had tried gambling. The most popular form of gambling was scratch lottery tickets. Gifted scratch off tickets accounted for 19% of student gambling habits — outpacing games of chance enjoyed by the young adult crowd, like fantasy sports, which only 5% of high schoolers had bet on.
About half of students said they use their phone between one and five hours a day, although most reported they often spent more time on the devices than they’d like. A troubling 6% of middle schoolers and 4% of high schoolers reported that they spent 16 or more hours daily on their phones.
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Rhode Island
More complaints against former RI private school coach accused of exploiting underage girl – The Boston Globe
The girl told the state police and Barrington police that Cassidy, who’d been her coach, became fixated on her since the summer of 2025 and won her trust. She told police that Cassidy had given her lingerie and alcohol and requested explicit photos of her under the guise of training her for a “secret section of the FBI” to help children who are sex trafficked.
The small private Christian school fired Cassidy after his arrest on June 1. State police said they expected to bring more charges and asked for other witnesses to come forward.
Since then, Barrington Police Chief Michael E. Correia said, four more students from Barrington Christian Academy and a young woman who encountered Cassidy at the Pawtucket YMCA have made complaints.
“All of their stories are clearly inappropriate behavior from a teacher-coach,” Correia said on Wednesday. “However, we don’t believe [the allegations] at this time amounts to a criminal offense.”
Correia declined to describe the specific accusations. The new reports have been referred to the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is leading the investigation. State Police Major Kenneth Moriarty did not respond to questions on Wednesday.
A 19-year-old woman who attended Barrington Christian Academy in the 2020-2021 school year was the first to come forward. She spoke to Barrington police on June 3, shortly after the state police announced Cassidy’s arrest, and described “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.
Then, a 12-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl, both of whom are student-athletes at the school, spoke with Barrington police on June 8. A mother brought her 12-year-old daughter, who is also a student, to speak with police on June 9.
A 23-year-old woman contacted the Barrington police on June 17 about Cassidy. She said she encountered him at the Pawtucket YMCA when she was about 14 years old, and she also complained about “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.
Kate Messier, the vice president of development at the Pawtucket YMCA, confirmed on Wednesday that Cassidy was employed there until 2018. She did not comment on his role at the YMCA or answer questions about whether the organization had received any complaints about Cassidy at the time.
“Child protection is foundational to how the YMCA of Pawtucket operates, and we maintain extensive safeguards that are reviewed and reinforced on an ongoing basis,” Messier said in the statement. “Those safeguards include thorough staff screening and background checks, mandatory child abuse prevention training, program environments structured to maintain supervision and eliminate unsupervised one-on-one situations, and clear procedures for reporting any concern.”
The 14-year-old girl whose allegations led the state police to arrest Cassidy said that she learned that he had allowed juveniles from unstable homes live in his house in Pawtucket while he was working at the YMCA, according to court documents. The girl also told investigators that Cassidy had housed foreign exchange students associated with Barrington Christian Academy.
Correia said that the private school has been “very cooperative” with the Barrington police. The head of school, Michael Skazinski, did not respond to questions from the Globe on Wednesday.
Cassidy’s lawyer, Melissa Larsen, declined comment on Wednesday.
The state police have searched Cassidy’s home in Pawtucket, his pickup truck, and his office at the school, and have seized numerous electronic devices, including iPads, tablets, and thumb drives, according to court records. The affidavits accompanying the search warrants detailed the allegations that the 14-year-old girl made against Cassidy.
He had been coaching her in different sports at the school, and their families became close. She told the state police that she grew to trust Cassidy and would spend time with him and his family at their home. Then, she said, he began telling her stories about how he was special — and so was she.
She said Cassidy told her he was working for a “secret section of the FBI.” She said he claimed that he had “special DNA,” so the FBI and state troopers had him assist in raids to save children from being sex trafficked. She said that Cassidy told her that there were “off-worlders” or aliens that posed as humans on earth, and some of those children being sex trafficked were actually aliens.
She said that Cassidy assigned various “challenges” or “missions” to make her comfortable in uncomfortable situations, according to the affidavits.
“She was also advised to learn to get comfortable with wearing less clothing and ultimately nudity because it would be required later on for ‘missions,’” the affidavits said. “Cassidy claimed that aliens did not believe in the ‘construct of clothes.’”
She said Cassidy emailed her from his personal Gmail account, calling himself “Casper,” the affidavits said. She said he also claimed that two other girls were using his email to talk to her about the “special” training, and she was told to email with a person named “Kevin” on another email address who would talk to her about her feelings, the affidavits said.
She said she was instructed to take explicit photographs of herself and send them to his private email. She came to realize that all of the personas were actually Cassidy.
On May 28, the girl received an email from Cassidy’s personal Gmail account offering her three “flirt options,” all of which involved her taking off her clothes in front of him. She believed she needed to follow through; she told police that Cassidy said “bad things” could happen to her if she failed.
That night, her parents discovered what was going on, and they contacted the Barrington police, who called in the state police.
The State Police are continuing to investigate and ask anyone with information about Cassidy or potential victims to contact the task force at 401-921-1170, or the Barrington Police Department at 401-437-3935.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
Rhode Island
‘Condom Hut’ Movie Adds Another Big Name
Another famous face is joining the cast of “Rubber Hut” filming throughout Rhode Island.
As we previously reported, Grace Van Patten is starring in the feature film debut for director Hannah Gray Organschi about the infamous “condom hut” business from the early 90s.
The short-lived Fotomat kiosk turned drive-thru condom store garnered local notoriety as well as national attention in 1992 and is now the subject of a movie with several A-list stars attached.
READ MORE: Michael Imperioli, Emmy Rossum Join RI ‘Condom Hut’ Film
Scenes were filmed for several days at a custom-made “condom hut” on West Shore Road in Warwick. On Thursday, June 11, Beach Avenue was closed down to shoot a parade scene. Now, film crews have moved to Meshanticut Valley Parkway in Cranston for scenes along a residential street.
Who Was Behind the Original Condom Hut?
The home is believed to represent the residence of Emanuella DelVecchio, the former flight attendant who had the brilliant idea to open a condom kiosk in response to the AIDS epidemic.
Instead of support, however, DelVecchio received the condemnation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and was plagued with vandalism before shuttering her business within a year.
READ MORE: New Bedford’s Gone But Not Forgotten Closed-Down Bars
Who Has Joined the ‘Condom Hut’ Movie Cast So Far
Photos of parade scenes for the film show Michael Imperioli portraying a priest in the movie and now Deadline has reported that stage actor, Will Harrison, is attached to the project as DelVecchio’s husband. Other actors’ specific roles remain unknown.
Filming is expected to continue in Rhode Island until the end of June with a theatrical release likely in 2027.
See the Stars Who Own Homes in Rhode Island
There are plenty of celebrities who once called Rhode Island home, but how many still do? Here’s the list of stars who own homes across the Ocean State.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
20 Stars Who Hail From Rhode Island
Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the nation, but it has been home to many celebrities. Though some have moved here, filmed here or attended school here, only a handful were actually born here. These are those celebrities.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
All The Famous Faces That Have Been to Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island Home
Here are all the celebrities we know have made an appearance at Holiday House over the years.
Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall
Rhode Island
Two Rhode Island residents charged in $6.5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown
Two Rhode Island residents were charged after the Justice Department announced a $6.5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown.
The department said 455 defendants were charged, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes.
Mareli Arias Batista, 57, of Providence, was charged with false representation of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, false statement in application for a passport, use of a false passport and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain benefits using the identity of another person.
Officials said Batista fraudulently obtained approximately $28,236.42 in Rhode Island Medicaid benefits.
Balni Pimental Lara, 59, of Providence, was also charged with false representation of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and health care fraud, in connection with a scheme to obtain benefits using the identity of another person.
According to officials, Lara fraudulently obtained approximately $24,018.86 in Rhode Island Medicaid benefits.
Bhamin Chhatrapati, 40, of Stoughton, Mass., was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with over $5.1 million fraudulently billed to Medicare, of which over $2.6 million was paid.
Approximately 1,079 medical providers were suspended and billing privileges were revoked for 1,403 providers.
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