SUBSTANCE ABUSE A GROWING CONCERN

Lawrence Company Expanding To Meet Needs Of Teens

Marijuana and alcohol use among adolescents is a growing concern in
Douglas County.

Binge drinking by youths is higher in Douglas County than the
statewide average, according to the 2008 Kids Count survey.

About 80 percent of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation
Services treatment admissions in Douglas County last year were for
marijuana use, followed by alcohol.

A 2008 Kansas Communities That Care survey found that 42 percent of
high school seniors in Douglas County said they had used marijuana at
least once, compared with 35 percent statewide. Sixty-five percent
said they used alcohol, compared with 72 percent statewide.

Another emerging problem is the use of pharmaceuticals. The survey
found 89 percent had used drugs not prescribed by their doctor,
compared with 86 percent statewide.

These are some of the statistics that counselors and social workers
point to as worrisome.

"There's a lot of pot and alcohol use here," said Duane Olberding,
clinical director of Professional Treatment Services in Lawrence.
"When you have a college community, there's just a lot of young people
around anyway and there's a lot of influences coming from
everywhere."

Olberding, who serves on the Kansas Citizen's Committee of SRS, said
Douglas County youths have admitted to smoking pot as young as 11 and
12. According to the CTC survey, 1.5 percent of sixth-graders had used
marijuana - that jumped to 9.3 percent by eighth grade and 28 percent
by 10th grade.

After serving adults for just over a year in Lawrence, Olberding
decided to expand his business beginning Aug. 1 to include those ages
14 to 17. He is hoping to fill a gap in treatment services for
adolescents.

Services needed

SRS recently studied substance-abuse treatment needs in Kansas. The
study found that Douglas County has significant outpatient service
gaps for adolescents.

"There's no question that there's some service gaps that could be met
by the addition of outpatient services," said Laura Howard, SRS deputy
secretary. "For 2006, there were only 61 youths that accessed
outpatient substance abuse services in the county and there were 42 in
2007. Obviously, the need is significantly greater than that."

Aimee Ziegler, a WRAP clinician at Free State High School, is aware of
the alcohol and marijuana use that goes on among students. She is a
co-founder of the Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities
program that places Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center clinical
social workers in schools to help students deal with problems such as
substance abuse. Ziegler said the program assisted about 3,000
students last year. Of those, 50 percent had an alcohol or drug issue
in the family.

"From my perception, marijuana use is a very, unfortunately, very
acceptable recreational drug for teenagers," she said.

An area high school student, who wished to remain anonymous, said,
"Weed is by far the most popular drug in our area. It's cheap and
easily accessible." The student estimated that three-fourths of her
peers had tried it and that at least half smoked marijuana once a month.

Prevention measures are being taken by student groups, school drug and
alcohol specialists, and Lawrence police. For example, students now
undergo Breathalyzer tests before entering a dance.

"There are some steps that the school and community have been taking
to say, 'Hey, we want to create safe places for our teenagers to be
without these things,'" Ziegler said.

That's why many say funding for such programs is important.

Nora Murphy, a parent of two Lawrence teenagers, believes WRAP
fulfills a need in public schools.

"I think a lot of parents like having a mental health counselor on
site, and it helps solve problems before they happen," she said.

'Shame-based disease'

Getting students to admit a potential problem and accept treatment
isn't easy.

Ziegler and Kendall Heiman, a counselor at Professional Treatment
Services, said there's a stigma about addiction.

"It's a very shame-based disease for the person experiencing it,"
Heiman said.

She said the best thing parents can do is create a relationship where
the teen feels safe enough to talk about what is going on. She
suggests seeking professional help at the first sign of trouble.

"The earlier somebody starts experimenting with the substances, that
dramatically affects their impulse control. So we are really trying to
get people in as soon as possible. As it progresses, it becomes more
difficult to treat."

Olberding said treatment is really about education and knowing what
needs to be done differently. He said parents typically do one of
three things: Go into crisis mode, ignore the problem or try to tackle
it themselves.

"If there's an addiction," he said, "no one person is enough to deal
with it."