GRIEVING MOM FIGHTS DRUG ABUSE

Many parents are in danger of enduring the heartache that gnaws at
Johnna Cook - but they don't even realize it.

When Cook learned that her teen daughter, Kayla, was abusing drugs,
she went into overdrive. She and Kayla's father shelled out $33,000
for nine months in a drug treatment program in Hamilton County. After
that, Kayla stayed clean for a couple of months late last year. But
the allure of drugs was too strong.

On the night of May 13, Kayla went to hang out with friends, and
ended up with multiple drugs coursing through her veins. The
18-year-old girl lapsed into a coma. Three days later, she died at
Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash.

Later that month, her classmates at Lebanon High School graduated without her.

Teen drug abuse deaths are rarely publicized, Cook said. "The parents
and families are embarrassed. They don't want anyone to know their
kid died from a drug overdose. I'm embarrassed that mine did."

Nevertheless, Cook is taking a public stand with a purpose.

"I couldn't save my own daughter but I'm trying to save others," she
said. "I was always after her. I was the one that called the police
to come and get her, but she wasn't willing and ready to give them up."

Cook is telling her daughter's story as part of "How to Drug-Proof
Your Kids," a two-part seminar being held the next two Tuesday
evenings at Lebanon Presbyterian Church.

Another set of Lebanon parents, Ed and Harriet Smith, also will be
telling the story of their daughter, Sonia Smith Dehaven.

She started experimenting with drugs while a student at Lebanon High,
and ended up dead from a drug overdose at age 22 in the trunk of a
car in Dayton last year.

"When it comes to drugs and alcohol, most parents are in a state of
denial," the church's pastor, Peter Larson, said. "We don't believe
it could ever happen to our kids, but it can and it does."

Cook, 44, says when she graduated from Lebanon High in 1981, "we were
still a little farm town ... you never really heard about drugs."

Now, drug use is much more common - and not just among the kids who
fit the stereotypical image, Cook said.

"It's not just the bad kids," she said. "The drugs are out there, and
you would be surprised about the kids that are into them."

Even teens who appear to be clean-cut, athletic and involved in
positive activities are falling into the drug-abuse trap, Cook said.
She knows because she saw those young people at her daughter's
treatment center.

Counties such as Warren - still largely rural but growing quickly -
lack sufficient programs to help teens with drug problems, Cook said.
"You have to go to either Cincinnati or Dayton to get help."

Cook saw signs that something was wrong with her daughter shortly
after she enrolled in high school in 2003. "She started changing
friends and would go out and would sleep all day the next day," her
mother said. "Her schoolwork started going down."

Cook suspected drug use. But it took awhile before she found out for
sure. In 2005, a bag of marijuana fell out of Kayla's purse when she
was visiting a relative. After that, Kayla ran away. Her mom filed a
police report. When police caught up to Kayla, Cook insisted that the
county juvenile authorities perform a drug test. The results: Kayla
had high levels of cocaine and marijuana in her system.

"I just felt like a failure because I didn't know what to do
anymore," Cook said. "I knew I had to get her help."

As Cook drove her daughter to a treatment center, Kayla angrily hit
her mother repeatedly. "I knew it was because of the drugs," Cook said.

Drug treatment ultimately didn't work.

In hindsight, Cook wishes she had persisted in trying to get her
daughter to discuss her feelings and fears more openly. When she was
13, Kayla suffered a neck injury, and her mother thinks Kayla could
have been trying to self-medicate lingering pain.

Kayla also was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Cook watched in despair as her daughter deteriorated. "She was such a
pretty girl, and she was so smart. She was going to be a
veterinarian," Cook said.

"I hope that I can help somebody else, because I don't want to see
another family walk into the hospital and be in the situation I was
in," Cook said. "I had to see my daughter die from a drug overdose,
and there wasn't anything I could do about it."

The Kayla Cook Memorial Fund has been set up at Fifth Third Bank.

Her mother intends to use the money to buy a headstone for her
daughter's grave at Waynesville Cemetery and "to support other kids
who get in trouble with drugs," Cook said, possibly by establishing a
scholarship fund for a college-bound teen who overcomes addiction.

About the seminar

On Oct. 9 and 16, local parents and community leaders will present a
free, two-part seminar titled "How to Drug-Proof Your Kids." The
seminar will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Lebanon Presbyterian Church,
123 N. East St. Speakers include Warren County Prosecutor Rachel
Hutzel, Lebanon High School Principal Sam Ison and County Juvenile
Court Judge Mike Powell.

Statistics and advice on drugs

By age 14, 35 percent of teens have engaged in some form of illegal
drug use. By the end of high school, more than half will have tried
at least one illicit drug. Authorities also report that young people
are abusing cough syrup, prescription medicines and over-the-counter drugs.

Teens who begin using illicit drugs before the age of 15 are more
likely to develop a lifelong dependence on illegal substances.

Teens who have negative attitudes toward school and low expectations
of academic success are at increased risk of drug use. Also, teens
who use drugs typically exhibit declines in grades and inconsistent
attendance at school.

Talk about the consequences of drug use. Help your teen visualize two
futures, one that includes drug use and one that remains drug-free.

Take advantage of teachable moments. These include talking about
scenes in movies or news headlines that deal with drug associated topics.

Source: Adolescents at Risk: Illicit Drug Use - Fact Sheet,
Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University