A Stranger In The House, Part 4a

MOST TEENS' LEGAL PROBLEMS ARE DRUG-RELATED

What Services Are Available?

Parents who are shocked when their teen-ager is found by police to be in
possession of dangerous drugs often wonder, "What now?"

Drug addiction does not discriminate between social stratum and neither
does the law. So sons and daughters of wealthy businessmen and those of
common laborers are court-ordered along with their parents to receive drug
education.

Regardless of the offense, most legal problems had by teen-agers are
drug-related. About 37 percent of Edmond youths arrested test positive for
drugs regardless of the offense.

"A child might be in here for vandalism and test positive for drugs at the
same rate as individuals charged with marijuana (possession) or assault,"
said Joyce Dedek, court administrator for the City of Edmond.

State law requires a child found in possession of illegal drugs to be
scheduled for a court hearing. Generally, the parent meets with the city
prosecutor prior to the court date. The judge usually delays the case for
one month, Dedek said, while the child is evaluated at Edmond Family Services.

Family Services, partly funded by the city, offers individual, family and
group counseling, DUI, drug and alcohol education and assessments.

The municipal court only handles misdemeanor offenses involving youth. When
a teen-ager is arrested for a felony such as selling drugs, assault or
robbery, they are taken to juvenile detention or the Oklahoma County Jail.

Alcohol Is A Drug

Some busy parents don't allow enough time to keep tabs on the child's
behavior, said Eileen Weides, coordinator for alcohol and other drug
services at Edmond Family Services. Less time is spent together by families
talking at the dinner table. Instead, parents spend lots of time
transporting youth from one event to another.

"I think it's awfully easy to give kids money and send them on their way."
Drugs such as cocaine are easier for an upper-middle-class youth to get,
she said.

And families become disenfranchised as society becomes more competitive for
"the buck," said Mary Jo Sullivan, substance abuse coordinator at the
Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. Parents are devoting more time to
their careers than most of their parents did, studies indicate.

"It's not that mom and dad don't love them. They want them to have more
than they had, and consequently, that (idea that) 'I want to provide my
children more than I had,' really, as far as I'm concerned, is defeating
the whole concept of family," she said.

Young children need to be told by their parents the facts of substance
abuse, experts say.

"Alcohol is one of the most toxic drugs out there. But it's legal," Weides
said. "And I think that's the lie we tell kids. We don't even look at it in
our society as a drug. Until we start defining alcohol in our society as a
drug, things will not change a whole lot."

Education Works

In Edmond, teen-agers found possessing alcohol or other drugs are taken to
a secure detention interview room at the Edmond Police Department when a
parent cannot be contacted. Edmond Family Services is then notified to
provide two counselors to wait with the child until the teen-ager can be
placed in his parents' custody.

In addition, the youth is required to complete nonprofit community service
work that might include work at churches, the Edmond Animal Shelter and
HOPE Center. When two adolescents are arrested together, the judge
prohibits them from visiting one another.

State law mandates that a child under 18 must attend a first-offender
program when a court charges them with possession of illegal drugs or alcohol.

In Edmond, youth are ordered to the "Diversion" program conducted by Edmond
Family Services. It has been in place for three years. Edmond Municipal
Court Judge Alan Synar said, based on the recidivism rate, the Diversion
program is a success.

The adolescents receive random drug/alcohol testing at Edmond Family
Services. However, by the time the youth receive the court-ordered drug
test, evidence of alcohol and narcotics may have disappeared. But marijuana
lingers in the system for weeks, Dedek said.

Reinforcing Values

Diversion is a drug/alcohol education program aimed at teen-agers who have
been arrested for a drug-or alcohol-related offense or have had a positive
urine analysis test. The preventative program is designed for first-time
offenders.

"The (Diversion) class reinforces some of the things they have forgotten or
didn't learn with some of the programs that go on in schools, or some of
the things their parents tried to teach them," said Sheldon Adkins,
Diversion class counselor.

Diversion examines the emotional and physiological effects of alcohol and
drugs. It is not a counseling session, Adkins said. But teen-agers can
receive formal counseling at Edmond Family Services, while others are
referred to intensive inpatient or outpatient counseling elsewhere.

One class covers what it's like to be a child of an addict. Parents who are
addicted to drugs or alcohol are inconsistent in their parenting skills,
Adkins said.

"The child doesn't know who they will wake up and find at home with them
that day," he said. Although the parent looks the same, they act totally
different from when they are sober.

"They might become verbally and physically abusive. So the child learns,
'Here's (how) the people that love me show that,'" he said. "It begins to
affect the child in pretty adverse ways as far as how they interact with
people."

More Than Genetics

The 8-hour-long classes examine how genetics and environment interplay to
produce addictive behavior.

"I think without a doubt, the evidence would say that we are more than just
our genetics -- that environment can affect us," Adkins said. "But also, we
aren't going to become addicts just because our parents do. And obviously
there's evidence in multiple generations of families where kids go on to
become addicts."

The likelihood of becoming an addict depends on body chemistry and
environment. It's both nature and nurture, he said. So the only way that a
person has a chance not to become an addict is to never drink alcohol or
ingest narcotics.

"There's a lot of people out there who have a beer and stop. Maybe two
months later, they have a beer and are fine with that," he added. "They're
the classic social drinker. But then there's a percentage of the population
- -- when they have one, the next thing they know they have 12."

Marijuana Jeopardizes Motivation

Alcohol and marijuana are the most common drugs abused by teen-agers who
wind up in court-ordered treatment at Edmond Family Services.

In Oklahoma, 44.7 percent of students stated they had used marijuana,
compared with 47.2 percent nationwide, according to a survey of middle
school and high schools conducted during the 1999-2000 school year in
Oklahoma. It was sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services.

"If there were some way to outlaw alcohol and legalize marijuana, we'd have
a lot less violent society. But we'd have a lot less motivated society,"
Weides said.

Marijuana jeopardizes an adolescent's motivation, she added. They simply
don't care about their daily activities as long as they have "weed." It
impacts school, sports and employment.

"Certainly, not everyone who tries marijuana is going to have a problem
with it," Weides said.

Of all drugs, marijuana is probably the most benign because an individual
cannot overdose and die from it, and many adolescents choose marijuana over
alcohol because it does not make them visibly sick, she said.

Withdrawal from marijuana is mild, she said. "The biggest thing I see is
people have trouble with mood swings. They have trouble sleeping." And
marijuana interferes with memory.

Rethinking Poor Decisions

The parents of Edmond children found in possession of illicit drugs are
required to participate with a "Life Skills" program offered at Edmond
Family Services. The prevention and intervention program is a six-week
session for teen-agers and parents that runs two hours weekly.

It addresses adolescent development, communication, anger management,
values awareness and conflict resolution. Children who are naturally
curious puts them at risk. However, teen-agers with good self-esteem are
less likely to experiment with drugs, said Sandy Mold, parent facilitator
of the program.

Reaction to the program varies. Some parents are thankful for the services
and a few feel it's an invasion of privacy. They say they can tend to their
child's risky behavior without the court mandating their participation in
the program.

Misdemeanor offenses represent poor decisions, but does not mean the
teen-ager is a criminal, Mold said. All parents struggle with the challenge
of raising their child in a healthy environment, she said.

"We've seen everything here from valedictorians to kids living in pretty
dysfunctional homes," Mold said.