TEEN DRUG USE A PROBLEM IN SURROUNDING MOUNTAIN TOWNS

Partying Culture Accepted By Parents And Teens, Police And Educators
Say

EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado -- Drug and alcohol abuse among teens is a major
problem in Eagle County -- a problem that is often ignored and accepted
as normal by students and families, community leaders say.

A group of experts gathered at Berry Creek Middle School Thursday to
talk about the extent of teen drug and alcohol use in Eagle County,
and brainstorm solutions to the problem.

In a survey of 853 high school students conducted by the Eagle River
Youth Coalition, about 47 percent said they had at least one drink of
alcohol in the past 30 days, and 31 percent said they had five or more
drinks in a row in the past 30 days.

About 22 percent said they've used marijuana at least once in 30
days.

One of the most difficult things about drug and alcohol use is that
it's become a "societal norm" in Eagle County, said Mike Gass,
director of secondary education for Eagle County schools. Being a
resort community where people come to have fun, drug and alcohol use
is often viewed with indifference by families and visitors.

It's even more frustrating when school officials and law enforcement
come across parents who don't seem to mind that their kids are
drinking and using drugs, and then there are parents who even
encourage it. Avon police chief Brian Kozak said when he was an
officer in Arizona, parents usually seemed grateful when police break
up parties.

"Here, we bust up parties and parents are yelling at the police
officers for waking them up," Kozak said.

Then, when the students appear in court, parents will tell judges that
they gave their kids permission to drink and use drugs, Kozak said.

Gass said he's been to a student expulsion hearing where parents
wholeheartedly defended their child who was caught selling drugs on
campus, and blamed the schools for letting it happen. It's also
awkward when students say they obtained their drugs from their
parents' stash, he said.

Parents starting to talk

Krista McClinton, the clinical program director of Colorado West
Mental Health Center, said she's seen a much greater acceptance among
parents that their kids are using drugs.

"What we need is to get parents to truly start calling each other out
about what's going on in the neighborhoods," Gass said.

The good news is that parents are actually starting to talk with each
other, says Janet DeClark, founder of the Eagle County Parent Network.
DeClark said for years there's been a "conspiracy of silence" among
parents who were afraid to admit to each other that their teens were
abusing drugs and alcohol.

This started to change last year though at a community meeting hosted
by Battle Mountain High School about the drug abuse problem. Parents
started opening up to each other, and stories about how drugs were
affecting families started coming out, DeClark said.

Parents eventually found some comfort in realizing that everyone was
going through the same problems, she said.

DeClark and other parents immediately joined together to develop the
Eagle County Parent Network and a Safe Homes Pledge, which requires
parents to sign a pledge saying they won't allow drugs and alcohol in
their homes and that they'll closely watch parties for drug and
alcohol use.

Intelligence problem

One of the biggest challenges for law enforcement right now is
gathering intelligence on who's selling drugs to students, said Mike
McWilliam, a detective for the Eagle County Sheriff's department.

Students will admit to police officers that they bought and used drugs
- -- but usually refuse to give up details like how much they paid, how
much they bought, who sold it and what kind of drugs were being
offered, McWilliam said.

Another problem in the community is the difficulty many families have
in finding treatment options, DeClark said. When parents realize that
their child has a drug or alcohol problem, there aren't many treatment
options, and many don't even know where to start looking.

The Eagle River Youth Coalition is working to form what's called a
"Single Point of Entry" system of getting teens to treatment. This
means that when teen has a drinking or drug problem, there should be
one place where they can go where a professional can see how bad the
problem is, develop a plan and refer them to the right treatment facility.