TEEN DRUG USE IS FOCUS OF TOWN FORUM

Event Aims To Alert Parents To Dangers In Other Homes

A teen study completed this year revealed one-third of teens and
nearly half of all 17-year-olds attend house parties in which
parents are present and teens are drinking, smoking marijuana or
using cocaine, ecstasy or prescription drugs.

The nationwide school survey by the National Center of Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University and its results were the
catalyst for the Partnership for a Drug Free Community to host a
town forum next week, said Deborah Soule, executive director for the
partnership.

"What is really frightening is that local surveys indicate that even
sixth- and seventh-graders have already tried some of these drugs,"
Soule said.

Partnership's Law Enforcement Coalition meets several times
throughout the year to discuss the latest drug trends and evaluate
how they are affecting our community.

"We have laws in place to protect our children from consuming
alcohol within public places, but when it comes to the privacy of a
neighbor's home, we drop our safeguards," said Huntsville Police
Chief Rex Reynolds. "And, even worse, often times prescription
medications within our medicine cabinet contribute to the
delinquency of those minors attending house parties."

Soule said the coalition strongly recommended the program to alert
parents about the dangers of prescription drug and alcohol abuse.

Speakers will include teens, parents, police, ministers, attorneys,
pharmacists, doctors and nurses.

"This meeting is intended to serve as a wake-up call for all parents
by letting them know what really goes on at open house parties," she said.