COOPERATIVE SPIRIT KEY TO KEEPING TEENS ALCOHOL-, DRUG-FREE

Community Approach Urged For Parents, Schools

In a season of proms and other adolescent rites of passage, there
comes perhaps a natural focus on telling kids "don't."

Don't use drugs. Don't drink. Don't get in the car with a drunken driver.

These warnings are important, experts say, as is keeping tabs on
where your children are and with whom they're spending time.

But prom season is just one opportunity to initiate dialogue about
underage drinking and drug use, experts say.

Facilitating those talks is a primary goal of Thursday's second
annual town-hall meeting on adolescent drug and alcohol abuse.

Sponsored by Libertas Treatment Center and Partners in Education, a
program of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the event is
designed to provide information and talking points on those issues.

"It's really a community issue that we all need to look at," said
Rebecca Deschane, youth development manager with Partners in
Education. "By working together as a community, we can establish a
positive atmosphere here in the area."

Part of that cooperative spirit is letting parents know what to look
for, both in terms of which drugs are popular and in terms of
symptoms of use, said Libertas program director Pat Ryan. Libertas is
an accredited and state-certified substance abuse treatment center on
Green Bay's west side.

One common misconception is that adolescent alcohol use is "just"
underage drinking, Ryan said. But far from being no big deal,
underage consumption can lead to other problems.

"It's not a simple event," Ryan said. "It's not an acceptable event.
It's a very serious event. ... All by itself it is dangerous. And
actually, it's been shown that kids who start to drink before age 15
are four times more likely to become an alcoholic than those that
wait until age 21."

The average age of an adolescent who ends up in treatment at Libertas
is about 15 to 16 years, Ryan said. The facility sees about 200 kids
in outpatient programs and another 150 in inpatient treatment on an
annual basis.

One of those patients was 16-year-old Scott of Green Bay, who was
counting 83 days of sobriety when he sat down for a Monday interview
with the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Scott asked that his last name not
be used to protect his identity.

Like more adolescents, Scott's drugs of choice weren't illegal
narcotics. Rather, he said he preferred over-the-counter and
prescription medications, including cold and allergy medicines, as
well as prescription drugs including Adderall and Vicodin.

After a relapse soon after he entered treatment in January, Scott
started to take his drug abuse -- and getting better -- seriously, he
said. He now attends thrice-weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings and
is back in school.

Using drugs that are legal -- or would be, with a valid prescription
- -- helped Scott justify his drug use, he said.

"I'd always think, 'at least I'm not using cocaine,'" he said. "At
least I'm not using heroin."

That's a common line of reasoning for teens who abuse prescription
and nonprescription medications, Ryan said. Those drugs also may be
more available to teens. But it's important for parents to know
they're just as dangerous.

"I think there's the feeling among some that somehow the abuse of a
prescription drug is safe," Ryan said, "and that perception obviously
is a problem."

Officials also point out that drug and alcohol abuse aren't problems
that exist in a vacuum. The town-hall event's keynote speaker, Drug
Enforcement Agency special agent Mark Warpness, will discuss the
larger impact of drugs and alcohol, as well as how to keep neighborhoods safe.

A panel of other local experts, including Press-Gazette reporter
Scott Venci, also will be on hand to discuss issues related to drug
and alcohol abuse. Venci, who covers high school sports for the
Press-Gazette, has reported on issues of drug and alcohol abuse as
they affect young athletes in the area.

In the meantime, many area middle and high schools are doing what
they can to provide alcohol-free events related to the prom and other
celebrations.

After Green Bay Southwest High School's junior prom Saturday,
students will be able to stay at the school for an alcohol-free
post-prom party, said school principal Bryan Davis.

Such events aren't a cure-all, he said, but school officials hope
they'll help curb student drinking on what can be a big night for teens.

"For that night, I think that greatly reduces the opportunity kids
would have to drink," Davis said, "and more than anything, give them
an opportunity to do something else."