LOCAL JUVENILE DRUG USE UP

Positive drug screens for people on probation is one sign that drug use is
on the rise in Montgomery County, officials say.

But, it's not just the quantity of drug use that has local court officials
concerned, it's the age of the users.

"Drugs don't discriminate," said Elvira Glass, a county probation officer
who works with juveniles. "We have kids from the eighth grade and up who
have substance abuse problems."

Juvenile probation officers and court officials are more frequently faced
with positive drug screens among youth on probation.

"I don't think the public has a comprehension of the problem we have -- not
only in our community, but nationwide -- with drugs," said General Sessions
and Juvenile Judge Ray Grimes. "It's a generational problem, but it's also
a very real problem."

A basic condition of probation is that the person obey all laws, including
abstaining from illegal drugs. Drug testing is mandatory for juveniles on
probation. Judges sometimes order more than standard drug screening for
those on probation.

Not all drug charges

Daniel Williams, a probation officer with Montgomery County Juvenile Court,
has seen firsthand the growing drug problem.

"If I had six kids in a day, I would probably have one or two that come
back positive," Williams said. "All my kids are troubled kids. Out of my 60
kids, only about 15 are on probation for drug-related crimes. However, a
good 40 or more have tested positive for using drugs."

In Montgomery County, 1,343 juvenile cases moved through the judicial
system between January and September 2002, according to the Tennessee
Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Of those cases, 96 -- or 7.15 percent -- were drug-related offenses. The
most common crime committed by juvenile are theft-related offenses, which
totaled 12.43 percent of all criminal activity among juveniles, statistics
show.

"You don't have statistics to prove the number of burglaries and thefts
related to people trying to steal to buy drugs," said Assistant District
Attorney Bill Cloud. "It's not just the drug crimes, there's correlated
crimes."

Officials believe if drug use among juveniles can be diminished, other
crime across the community will also abate.

Ten local officials -- including a juvenile judge, a public defender, an
assistant district attorney and probations officers -- recently attended
the first of three seminars required to obtain a federal grant to operate a
juvenile drug court.

"In order to qualify for the grant, we have to send a team from our system
to intensive training put on by the department of juvenile justice," Grimes
said.

The $500,000 grant will go towards offsetting the costs of a juvenile drug
court coordinator and hiring more county probation officers who work with
youth. Currently, there are two -- Glass and Williams.

Officials have two more seminars -- one in April and one in August -- to
attend before they would be eligible for the grant. Regardless of whether
the local court system receives the grant, officials intend to start a
juvenile drug court.

The juvenile drug court is a comprehensive, court-supervised drug-treatment
program.

"There's a different way to approach juvenile drug court and adult court,"
Grimes said. "Juveniles have so little control over their life setting. ...
The other issue ... is that their emotions are raging so much more than
adults." Juvenile Drug Court will handle youth on a case-by-case basis. The
court, in conjunction with probation officers, would sentence kids to an
intensive probation, designed to alleviate their drug habits.