A Stranger In The House, Part 3b

DRUG USERS FIT NO STEREOTYPE

'Stoners' And Jocks Alike Fall Victim To Substance Abuse

Parents are sometimes at their wit's end while searching for a way to get
their child away from illicit drugs. So it seems understandable some
parents don't like admitting their options will always be limited until
their child chooses sobriety.

"I've had parents walk out of my office screaming and shouting and calling
me horrible things because here they have this problem and they want it
fixed right away," said Erin King, student assistance counselor at Santa Fe
High School.

"A lot of times, people want to give kids breaks -- and I understand that,"
King said. "But in some instances, especially with substance abuse, I don't
think you can be lenient, because if you let it go, it can take over your
life and you may never gain control again."

It is harder to help a child when the parents are in denial that their
child is at risk, King said. She tries establishing good rapport with those
students, so that they know they have somebody to talk to.

Nearly a quarter of all high school students in Oklahoma report being
involved with the transfer of illegal drugs on school property, according
to a 1999-2000 survey of middle school and high school students conducted
by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
The report includes survey responses from 10,179 students.

In excusing their child's behavior, some parents have said to Dawnetta
Russell, student assistance counselor at Memorial High School, that
marijuana didn't negatively impact their own lives when they smoked it as a
youth.

But marijuana today is far more potent than it was 20 years ago, she said.
And much of it is tainted with other contraband. The plant should not be
minimized as a health risk because it is a gateway drug, she added.

'We're Not Immortal'

David, 18, said he saw "a lot" of illicit drug activity at North High
School's campus last year.

"I think the biggest misconception that most of the parents have -- they
see the kids who don't do good in school, the kids who dye their hair blue,
the kids who listen to Marilyn Manson, and they think they're the only
one's doing (drugs)," he said, while asking his real name not be used.
"Somebody can bring one person like that up to me that drinks and I can
show them two kids that make straight A's and play football and may be on
the honor role that do it, too."

About 60 percent of high school seniors in Oklahoma have used drugs or
alcohol, according to the health department.

Watching his older brother battle a drug addiction caused David to resist
the temptation of drugs.

"We're kids, but we're not immortal," he said. "And I think a lot of kids
think, 'I'm 18. I can't die. I'm too young.' And that's just not true," he
said.

A Helping Hand

Russell and King counsel students on issues including grief, peer pressure
and substance abuse problems ranging from tobacco to methamphetamines. And
the licensed therapists help students whose parents are drug and alcohol
addicts.

Teen-agers tell Russell they should not have to give up their vices while
at the same time, their parents go to parties and drink martinis and beer.
So when a drinking problem appears acute, Russell provides students her
personal phone number. When they are too inebriated to drive, she
volunteers to drive them home -- but not without a lecture and a report to
their parents.

"I try to go over and above with these kids because I love them," Russell
said. "I care very much for the kids that I work with and I hate some of
the choices that they make. And I'm hard on them as if they're my own kid."

Some former students are dead or in prison because they made a decision
under the influence of narcotics, she said.

Others overcome their addiction with a new spiritual-based beginning.

"I've had kids who have been on the streets, who have been kicked out of
school, who at one point in their lives were dealing drugs," she said.
"They now have graduated from school in an alternative program and go to my
church."

At times, they ask her to pray for their sobriety. Religious beliefs, she
said, play a major role in drug recovery.

Each year, she organizes a support group for teens who have undergone drug
rehabilitative therapy.

"We have one for recovery when they've been in-patient. But then I have
(one) if they're wanting to stop using and say, 'I don't want to party
anymore. I want to make some different choices.'"

When students miss the group, Russell helps parents determine types of
services their child needs at school. She also assists parents in placing
their child in a drug treatment program.

Enforcing Policy

Most students go to high school for an education. They don't want to be in
that environment with a bunch of "dopers" walking their halls, said officer
Paul Sinclair of the Edmond Police Department, who works as a resource
officer at North.

"They don't want it in their building," he said. So some students speak
confidentially to him about substance abuse and other illegal activity. He
gathers intelligence information from parents, teachers and administrators.

Edmond Public Schools have safeguards to prevent students from abusing
drugs. For example, Sinclair makes mental notes of suspicious cars and who
they belong to.

He made 60 arrests three years ago, the semester the School Officer
Resource Program was developed. They ran the gamut from marijuana and
narcotics distribution to possession of knives and physical assault. A
resource officer is assigned to each of the three public high schools.

When students realized their actions would not be treated lightly, arrests
at North declined. Last school year, Sinclair arrested 30 students.

"If it's an assault and battery that occurred on school property, there's
no protection (from arrest) just because it's a school," he said. " ...We
started taking them to jail for possession of marijuana and having a knife
on them at school. We started digging them and digging them hard. We rode
them hard and put them away wet that first year.

"And low and behold, the theory has taken root that you don't want to goof
up in this building because not only will you get in trouble at school --
you'll have to see Officer Sinclair. Tickets get signed and they have to
see Judge (Alan) Synar. The last thing a kid wants to do is see Judge Synar
- -- 'the hanging judge.'"

Teen-agers receive a juvenile citation when found in possession of alcohol
or other illicit drugs. Parents are then notified that they should
immediately take their child for a blood test. But they are not required to
report the findings to the police, though "I've never had a parent not do
that," Sinclair said.

Arrested students are ordered to attend drug awareness education classes at
Edmond Family Services. They must provide the judge progress reports on
school activity.

When a child is placed on probation, the standard curfew time of midnight
is reduced to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on weekends, unless they are in
custody of their parent or at an official school function.

Synar can cancel or deny a youth's drivers license if he or she violates
the terms of probation. Teen-agers can get their license back only with the
court's approval.

Those individuals are required to prove they completed their high school
education before Synar will consider reinstating their driver's license.
They must also pass a drug test and have a positive assessment from a
licensed counselor.

"We have (people) 23 or 25 years old coming back in trying to get their
driver's license because they never completed the program," said Joyce
Dedek, court administrator.

Strong Drug Community

Bill said he smoked marijuana four times a day his senior year at Memorial
High School, including twice a day at school. Often, he would skip class.
The 18-year-old, who asked that his real name not be used, received his
high school diploma during his six months of rehabilitative treatment at
the Hazel Street Recovery Center in Texarkana, Texas.

"In Edmond Public Schools especially, there's a really strong drug
community where, with most drugs, you can get pretty easily. Cocaine was
fairly easy to get," Bill said. "Fifty percent of the time, I would go
through a couple of kids I knew who were friends with dealers around town.
I had other friends who would help me out -- people I worked with. They had
friends who were dealers."

Among the Oklahoma 12th-graders surveyed by the Department of Mental Health
and Substance Abuse Services, 14 was the average age they first got drunk
or smoked marijuana and 13 is the average age they first tried inhalants.
Of the high school students surveyed, 9.2 percent admitted using cocaine
during their lifetime, and 4.3 of the students stated using cocaine during
the last 30 days.

Bill and his friends would buy and sell marijuana and other narcotics at
school, he said, while adding they are easy to conceal. Cocaine was rarely
brought on the premises by users because they feared arrest, he added.

Marijuana remains students' favorite drug, Bill said. In Oklahoma, 44.7
percent of students surveyed reported having smoked marijuana, compared
with 47.2 percent surveyed nationwide.

"At every 20 minute tutorial session, you could count anywhere from 50 to
200 kids, give or take, smoking pot, probably outside the building --
either in their cars driving off somewhere, or in the parking lot," Bill
said. A tutorial is intended for students to catch up on their studies.

More dangerous substances are available. Bill thought experimenting with
LSD and mushrooms would produce "happy" cartoon-like episodes.

"What led me to do it -- there was an actual acid dealer who went to school
with us," he said. "... I've only had one good trip."

His other dozen or so acid trips were scary, he said. Use of LSD and
psilocybin mushrooms can produce nausea, rapid heart beat and altered
states of perception and feeling, according to the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.

Policing The School

Looking back, Bill said "tripping" did not enhance his perception. Rather,
it produced distortion.

"I tried to intellectualize it the first time, you know, like that's what
reality is or whatever. But it was completely obvious my mind was going
crazy," he said. "If anyone ever tells you it expands their mind -- just
let them get off it a couple of days. Two days afterwards, your mind is not
expanding. You can tell your mind has shrunk."

He failed a college entrance test the morning after ingesting LSD. He could
barely function well enough to think rationally, he said.

During the fifth grade, he received an award for scholastic achievement,
his mother, Gwen, said. And he continued to make above-average grades until
high school, when his grades began to falter.

She said she was in communication with the high school counselor and vice
principal about her son's depression and lack of attendance. Bill's parents
imposed restrictions such as grounding him and taking away his car.

Bill was warned by school administrators that if his attendance didn't
improve, he would have in-school suspension, Gwen said.

"There were many more absences and nothing was done," Gwen said. "So I
called the school and said, 'Remember, you told him you were going to do
this.' I was policing the school to follow through with what they threatened."

He was never arrested at school for substance abuse. Bill said he was among
the students that "everybody" knew was high on drugs in class. But some of
his friends were arrested by police after teachers reported students
"reeking" with the smell of marijuana smoke.

A Reasonable Suspicion

Teachers are taught how to identify risky behavior, Russell said. Besides
physical indicators, they identify isolating behavior, changes in friends
and faltering grades.

When a school administrator has a reasonable suspicion that a student is
harboring drug paraphernalia, they have the legal authority to conduct a
search.

"But we can't really do much of anything on just suspicion," Russell said.
"Now, if we search them and find something then something happens. ... In
my opinion, there's really not a whole lot that you can do about knowing
that a kid is stoned or going out after lunch -- and that's frustrating.

"It really is, because that's happened several times in my office. I know
it right there in front of me that they are (stoned). And they lie."

Masking Addiction

A therapist who understands the dual diagnosis and relationship between
depression and substance is of paramount importance, Russell said. A youth
can exhibit signs of depression who is actually self-medicating with
marijuana, she added. And a diagnosed anxiety disorder can mask a core
methamphetamine addiction.

The process of assessing a substance abuse problem should not necessarily
begin with a family physician, said Eileen Weides, coordinator for alcohol
and other drug services at Edmond Family Services.

"I don't like to pick on doctors, but I think (it) and I've read it," she
said. "We've been told in classes and everything else. And I have no reason
to believe otherwise in seeing what I've seen with clients -- that doctors,
too many of them at least in the past, older doctors, have not been trained
to recognize alcoholism and substance dependence."

Physicians are apt to prescribe a sleep sedative if a patient is not candid
about an addiction, Weides said. Clients have told her that they easily
were prescribed anti-depressants without their physicians knowing they were
drug addicts.

"(Patients) may present with high blood pressure as an adult and a doctor
won't check it out," she said. "But maybe that could be caused from drinking."

Tough Love

Russell likens illicit drug usage to Russian roulette. Nobody really knows
whether they have a genetic or environmental propensity to quickly become
an addict until their drug usage is beyond control. Even binge drinking on
weekends is killing kids, she said.

"Kids are getting raped when they go out to these field parties," Russell
said. "And they're mixing the drugs in with their drink. It's not OK any
longer to say, 'Boys will be boys, and this is OK because it happened when
I was younger.'"

Students are referred to her by parents, teachers, administrators or even
other students. Some students themselves seek counseling from Russell,
while others resist help.

"I tell them, 'OK, now you've got Mrs. Russell on your back.' And I find
them. I will hunt them down from class to class. If they're skipping class,
I'll hang out in the cafeteria, walk around their tutorial -- tell
administration, 'If you see this kid, he comes to my office.'

"Even if they're not ready, I still want them to know, 'I'm still here for
you. And I'm not going to leave you alone because I know you're not making
the best choices,'" Russell said.

Physical Indicators

An assistant principal usually contacts Edmond police when contraband is
discovered, and the officer confiscates the evidence and files charges of
possession. The police officer cannot open a child's locker or search a
student's car without an administrator's approval and presence.

Physical indicators alert officers to persons who are driving under the
influence of not only alcohol but marijuana. Marijuana leaves an immediate
greenish tint on the back of the smoker's tongue, Sinclair said. And eyes
dilate with the use of certain narcotics.

The Edmond Police Department has three expert drug recognition officers
that can offer an opinion when a student is suspected to be under the
influence of drugs at school. Officers are trained to recognize types of
narcotics ingested, and when they were taken. At the school's request, a
student's blood pressure, pulse and eyes are monitored.

"(The officer) asks a lot of questions specifically tailored for a person
to answer," Sinclair said.

No Excuses

Officer Chris Fite is in charge of Cindy, a black Labrador trained to
detect illegal drugs at the three high school campuses. The dog visits each
of Edmond's three public highschools on a monthly basis . Cindy randomly
passes by lockers and cars, and is not trained to act aggressively -- only
to sniff-out marijuana and narcotics.

"The dog's nose is so powerful that a lot of lockers she hits on are empty
- -- that at one time, (perhaps) a year ago could have had something in it
and she'll smell it," Sinclair said. The school then has the authority to
conduct a search.

Marijuana is the most common item found, he said. Even one seed of
marijuana can be detected, usually under the floor board or car seat.

Ignorance is no excuse for any amount of contraband to be in a car,
Sinclair said. And they are considered the property of the car driver or
owner -- even if they have owned it for a week.

"You arrest the kids who from a distance look like dopers. And I've
arrested kids that live in million dollar homes," he said.

The act of arrest is made as painless as possible for students, Sinclair
said. But it's not fun for them either. "But even the kids I deal with
constantly know that if I catch them -- I've warned them already, 'I'm
telling you if I catch you, I'm going to eat your lunch.' It's nothing
personal. It's all business," he said.