PROGRAM CAN HELP SPOT YOUNG ADULTS IN TROUBLE

IT'S A SITUATION dreaded by parents and teachers alike. Suspecting that
a student's behavior indicates drug use, a teacher asks for a
conference to talk it over.

The parents may have suspected a problem with their son or daughter but
weren't really sure. Maybe evidence has been mounting for some time,
but the parents just didn't want to face it. Other medical or emotional
problems might be involved. And maybe there's no drug use at all.

Still, the signs seem to be there.

In every one of these situations, parents want - and deserve - the best
information they can get.

Teachers, nurses and other school officials need a reliable means of
evaluating what they're seeing. Given the potential seriousness of the
situation, they need more than a hunch that drugs might be involved.

A program now being introduced in Oregon and Washington could help.
Called Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professional (DITEP),
it is has been used for several years in states including New York,
Arizona, Texas and Kansas.

In late August, 10 trainees took part in Oregon's first session, held
in Hood River, and officials hope that the program will eventually be
used throughout the state.

DITEP is designed to provide educators with much of the information now
given to drug recognition evaluators - the law enforcement officers
who, in the course of a day's work, encounter drug-impaired men and
women and need to know what they're dealing with.

According to Lt. Dale Rutledge of the Oregon State Police Training
Division, the DITEP program educates teachers about the seven major
drug categories, along with the common drugs of choice for each of the
seven.

Each drug's signs and symptoms are covered in detail. Such indicators
might include extreme lethargy for a depressant such as Valium or
excessive animation for stimulants such as methamphetamine. Others
include pinpoint pupils for narcotic analgesics such as heroin and
dilated pupils for marijuana.

"We train the educators to clearly recognize the signs of impairment,"
Rutledge notes, "and give them the tools they need to document those
signs accurately."

Tools for teachers include classroom training, guidelines for accurate
observation, evaluation and reporting, use of tracking forms, and a
detailed program manual for ongoing reference.

"The idea," Rutledge explains, "is to put all the clues together so
teachers can form an educated opinion as to whether a child is impaired
and take steps to intervene." Those steps, he says, are governed by the
policies of the individual school district involved.

Concerned parents and school officials could be expected to wonder if
DITEP, in effect, makes cops out of teachers. Rutledge says no.

"We want teachers and school nurses to be able to identify kids using
drugs and get them an appropriate intervention. In other cases, these
officials will be the first to spot a medical problem or adverse
reaction to prescribed medications. This training can help with that."

Rutledge explains that recognizing drug impairment is a health and
safety issue for the student - not necessarily a legal one. He says
that of all the drug categories, only evidence of alcohol use by a
minor is punishable by law.

Ironically, being under the influence of drugs such as LSD or PCP,
considered by many to be more dangerous than alcohol, is not
technically a criminal offense. Possession of controlled substances is
illegal, of course, but simply being under the influence is not.

Still, preventing drug use among students is a high priority among
parents and school officials, and Rutledge says this program could
serve asa deterrent.

"The fact that kids know their teachers and school nurses are trained
in this area could be expected to reduce the amount of drug use," he
explains. "People use less when they think the chances are greater of
getting caught. The consequences are more real."

As parents and administrators consider the pros and cons of such
programs, Rutledge also points to the role of drugs in school site
violence.

"We know that drug use is associated with a percentage of violence at
school," he says, "and we're all trying to reduce that. That places
this program in line with other community policing efforts."

Whenever we use techniques developed by law enforcement in our schools,
parents, teachers and students alike all expect us to proceed
thoughtfully. To be sure, we need to take into account privacy rights
and model basic fairness when dealing with young people.

New programs like DITEP, governed by district policies, can offer a way
to spot young adults in trouble more quickly, get them the help they
need, reduce overall use and lessen drug-related violence. Those are
all worthy goals.

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer. As
Serenity Lane's statewide coordinator of employer services, Jerry
Gjesvold helps companies across Oregon create and manage their drug-
free workplace policies and programs. More information is available on
the Serenity Lane Web site at www.serenitylane.org.