CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

Why Do Some Teens Try Them Despite Dangers. C-J Round Table Cites Constant
Temptations

Models from the Youth Performing Arts School"photo illustration by Sam
Upshaw Jr. and Mike Covington, the courier-journal
They see the images everywhere -- in the pages of their favorite magazines,
in the commercial breaks between popular TV shows and plastered on billboards.

Young people, not much older than themselves, laughing, hanging out with
friends and having the time of their lives with a beer or cigarette in hand.

And whether or not they choose to indulge, they all have friends or peers
who drink, smoke or take illegal drugs.

In their recent discussion on the allure of these forbidden substances,
members of The Courier-Journal High School Round Table debated the merits
of age restrictions and offered insight into the reasons teens drink, smoke
and do drugs.

Most of the panelists said they felt responsible enough to make decisions
about substance use on their own -- without the interference of the law.
Some insisted that the existing legal restrictions had an unintentional
side effect -- that by making alcohol and cigarettes less available, they
made them more attractive.

Others approved of age restrictions but acknowledged their limited success.
They said that substance use -- and abuse -- is common among their peers.

The Courier-Journal High School Round Table is a yearly tradition dating to
1983. The 12 members of this year's panel were chosen from more than 150
applicants. Here are excerpts from their recent conversation:
Catherine Murrell: Do you feel capable of making responsible decisions
about whether to use drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

Kimberly Daniels, 17, a senior at North Bullitt High School in Bullitt
County: The pressure wasn't around me to use drugs or drink or anything
like that because all of my friends -- or most of them, at least -- don't
do that.

But now I know people that do and are of drinking age, and (it would be)
very easy for me now to go and ask them for beer or something or go to a
party with them. My parents have taught me not to use drugs or drink or
anything like that, but I mean the pressure is out there.

I think I can make my own decisions, but it's kind of a hard choice now.

Josh Beld, 16, a junior at Pleasure Ridge Park High School: Nowadays,
whenever I'm around my friends or I'm just in school, there's a certain
amount of discussion about going to parties and drinking and doing drugs
and stuff -- and it's sort of hard for some people now to try to avoid
that. I think certainly that more people are becoming susceptible to it.

Murrell: How do you feel about the legal age restrictions for drinking and
smoking.

Josh: I think the laws are good because, honestly, right now I know I'm not
mature enough at all to be doing those things. Basically, with the laws,
it's a lot harder to drink or smoke or whatever. Certainly that's good that
there (are) rules there to at least stop some of the activity somewhat.

Susan Hayman, 17, a senior at Christian Academy of Louisville: Well, I
don't drink or do any of that stuff, but I feel I'm mature enough to make
the decision.

I just think it's really silly that our government can send an 18-year-old
off to war and die in fighting and they are not even allowed to drink
certain beverages. It doesn't really make sense to me. I guess not all
people are mature enough to make that decision, but I feel like most people
are. I feel like I am.

Murrell: At what age do you feel young people are mature enough to handle
decisions about alcohol.

Mallie Lanham, 16, a junior at Marion County High School: Well, obviously,
there's not alcoholic commercials on the Disney Channel or anything like
that, so I know there's a line there. I guess ad agencies, they don't gear
towards (the Disney Channel).

But I feel that, if they think that we are old enough to see it in a
magazine like Cosmo -- if you are old enough to see that in print -- then
you are old enough to make your own decisions about whether you choose to
do that or not.

It's not just magazines, it's billboards -- it's anything. It's all around
us. The peer-pressure part of it -- it's not really that it's glamorous or
anything like that, but the fact that they are making it out to be.

I guess my decision wouldn't be based on an ad or it wouldn't be based on
whether somebody else did it or not. It would be whether I knew the effects
of it -- the outcome of it. I look at all the possible outcomes of it and
whether I'm going to hurt myself or others.

Alison Brotzge, 17, a senior at Assumption High School in Louisville: I was
just thinking about the whole thing with alcohol and how alcohol is
basically, in my opinion, a legal drug. You know, alcohol and tobacco are
legal drugs, and I think alcohol has the same negative effect on people's
lives when done in excess as illegal drugs do.

I think people go out and make all the illegal drugs seem very bad with
your anti-drug campaigns -- and that's good because people shouldn't be
doing that kind of thing -- but then the next thing, you'll see a Bud Light
commercial, and people will be drinking. In movies you have all this stuff
being bombarded at you. People are killed just as much if not more by drunk
drivers as by drivers who are high.

People are going to make decisions based on what they want to do. Whether
or not they are 18 or 21 or 47.

Charles Pait, 18, a senior at Fern Creek Traditional High School: I
personally would rather not do drugs or drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes
mostly because it does nothing for me -- there's nothing that I get
positively from those substances.

I wouldn't get anything from smoking a cigarette and you have to weigh the
balance and say, "What good is this doing for my body. What good is this
doing for me." And you think about it and there's really no good that any
of those substances do for you.

Now, in some instances, maybe alcoholic beverages can be not so bad if it's
done in moderation -- if you just have a glass of wine a day or something.
But I think smoking, even done in moderation, can be detrimental because
after a while you become addicted and the next thing you know, you can't
help yourself.

Once you weigh the balance, it's not worth it.

I know that from experience because, when I was younger, I was trying to be
rebellious and it was kind of the cool thing to do to experiment with
things and try drugs or drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.

I can remember when I was younger, yes, I did try smoking once or twice,
and afterwards I was, like, why did I even try it, because there was no
point to it.

When I was younger, I also did other things, like alcohol, and at the
moment I really didn't weigh the balance. I just kind of did it because
that's what friends did and, you know, it was cool to get drunk and to hang
out. It was the high school thing. It was what all the older people did,
and it seemed like that was a cool thing to do so you went along with it.

Then as I got older, I started to think for myself and figure out what is
best for me. Today I feel like I can make the decisions on my own and
decide what's best for me. But not everyone can, so I think it is best to
have a law or regulation to say at what age you should be able to smoke or
what age you should be able to drink.

At the same time, I do agree that if someone can go and fight for our
country and die, it is kind of strange that they aren't allowed to drink.

Murrell: What makes drinking, smoking and doing illegal drugs appealing to
teens. Do these activities serve as a rite of passage. Are they attractive
because they're forbidden.

Alison: I think for a lot of people that it has become somewhat of a rite
of passage to do something against the rules, especially in places like
America, where the government sets such strict drinking laws.

Day to day, I see my peers interacting with these things. People always use
the term "peer pressure," and I've always thought of that as your friends
trying to make you smoke or drink or whatever. Most of my friends don't
really care, but for some people it's like they want to fit in with their
friends and they want to have a sense of belonging, so that's why they
drink or smoke or do drugs, even though they know there's consequences from
doing that.

Susan: I just don't think that there are any positive effects of drinking
or smoking or anything like that. I think that if you are just doing it for
the taste then you (could) drink something that is more healthy like orange
juice, because that tastes really good too.

If you are doing it for fun, I just think that you have problems because
you should be able to have fun without using alcohol. It causes more
dangerous side effects than anything and, if you drink to avoid problems
you have, it doesn't change anything. If anything, it probably makes your
problems worse in the end.