YOUTH DRUG ARRESTS SOARING FOR WIDE ARRAY OF REASONS

Pima County young people are not committing as many violent crimes, but new
statistics indicate more of them are getting in trouble for drugs.

Court officials say it's crucial for kids to get drug habits under control
before they join the 18-24 age bracket, which is more vulnerable to abuse
of narcotics such as Ecstasy.

Data released last week by the Pima County Juvenile Court Center show
arrests of those 17 and younger on drug charges rose last year to the
second-highest number in a decade.

Last month the Juvenile Court Center stepped up efforts to fight drug abuse
among youths by opening a 20-bed detention area for addicts. They can stay
up to 30 days through the Drug Court program.

With two doctors on call for the "Drug Pod,'' as the detention area is
called, youths have access to help for problems that can aggravate
addiction, such as depression, mental illness or fetal alcohol syndrome.

Drug Court is an intensive program for delinquents with drug problems. It
offers reduction or dismissals of charges in exchange for up to a year of
intense supervision, including weekly court sessions, group counseling,
drug screening and community service.

By 18, youths are no longer eligible for programs through the Juvenile
Court Center. They are considered adults. An arrest for possession could
result in prison time. And in Arizona the penalties can be stiff - up to
12.5 years behind bars for selling Ecstasy, for example.

"Kids do experiment with drugs and alcohol, and they are not a lot of times
prudent about how they do it," said Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Nanette
Warner. "If one tablet of LSD is good, they reason seven must be better.
They have developing brains and lack of judgment.''

Warner said the drug arrests do not reflect the bigger picture. Many
delinquents not counted in the drug arrest numbers also have
substance-abuse problems, coming in on charges such as burglary and
domestic violence.

Youth drug arrests have gone up more than 500 percent in Pima County since
1990; the county population went up 26.5 percent during that same time.

Part of the rise may be due to better reporting, stricter laws, improved
enforcement and the placement of court resource officers in local schools,
court officials say. More school officials call law enforcement when kids
are caught with drugs.

Contributing to increased drug use are dysfunctional families, depression,
peer pressure, availability and population growth.

"Trauma can affect addiction, and there is a lot of trauma going on in
young people's lives,'' said Tryshe Dhevney.

Dhevney is founder and artistic director of Coming To, a local drug
prevention and education program run by Compass Healthcare that uses live
theater to deliver its message.

Dhevney has run anti-drug theater programs in three cities since 1984 and
has observed more younger kids abusing substances in recent years. She
believes that despite anti-drug messages, television, movies and the
Internet are constantly barraging young people with images of drugs and
alcohol, piquing their curiosity.

The most popular drug abused by the youths who go through Juvenile Court is
marijuana. Also popular are alcohol, cocaine and "roches,'' which is the
street name for the sleeping pill Rohypnol.

About one-quarter of the youths who go through Drug Court have tried
Ecstasy, a hallucinogen that is increasing in prevalence, according to
local officials. But Ecstasy is rarely their drug of choice.

Neither is crystal methamphetamine, popular in the '90s.

Drug Court coordinator Lynne Parente said the youths she sees - 215 so far
have gone through the program - are not merely experimenting. Many are
already addicts.

Some were exposed in the womb. Others have drug-using parents who see no
problem.

Some of the youths started using drugs as early as the ages of 6 or 7, she
said.

Youths are also hypersensitive to issues like relationship failures or the
loss of a loved one. Drugs are a quick fix to the pain. They also alleviate
boredom, many youths report.

Take Randy Bowler. The 14-year-old was 12 when he started drinking alcohol
and smoking marijuana. The West-Central Tucson resident said he worked up
to daily marijuana use. He wasted a lot of time and his grades dropped. He
was arrested for possession and placed on probation. But after Bowler
tested positive for marijuana three times, his probation officer sent him
to Drug Court.

"Doing drugs is kind of mysterious, especially when there's nothing else to
do,'' said Bowler, who has since enrolled in the Tucson Unified School
District's ArtWORKS Academy and uses art as his outlet. He wants to be a
tile designer.

Rade Stewart, 14, was about 10 years old when he began smoking marijuana.
He then discovered cocaine and was smoking it nearly every day when he was
arrested for possessing drugs on school grounds.

"Marijuana wasn't bad, but I found cocaine addictive. I never slept,'' said
Stewart, another recent Drug Court graduate.

Drug Court includes mandatory family participation in a rocks-and-ropes
course, which allows the kids to experience the "high'' of physical activity.

"Kids on drugs have such a narrow focus. They don't know what's out in the
world, and they need to find their passion, whether it's dance or horseback
riding,'' Parente said.

Jim Schiller, coordinator of children's services for CODAC Behavioral
Health Services, which works with juvenile delinquents battling drug
problems, said what drug-abusing juveniles need more than anything are
mentors, along with businesses willing to help them out with scholarship
opportunities.

"These kids come back into the community, and the community has to be there
for them,'' Schiller said.