ALCOHOL MASKS ANGER, SURVEY SAYS

Tarrant County Teens Say They Resort to Substance Abuse in Response to
Problems in Lives

FORT WORTH -- Adolescents reach out for alcohol not out of curiosity
but to combat loneliness, anger or sadness, a recent drug survey indicates.

What's more, drug and alcohol abuse -- thought by some to be a problem
limited to urban areas like Fort Worth -- knows no boundaries,
according to the 2000 Drug Impact Index study for Tarrant County.

Students from sixth to 12th grade from across the county participated
in the survey taken last fall. LeAnn Griffin, director of community
education for Tarrant County Challenge, released the findings
yesterday at the Lynn W. Ross Juvenile Detention Center.

The index is a "snapshot" of the impact of substance abuse in the area
and is designed to be an indicator of current needs and trends in the
county.

One in three eighth- and ninth-graders, for instance, has easy access
to alcohol. Beer and mixed drinks are obtained from the teens' home,
their friends' homes or stores.

"We have a problem that we need to be paying attention to," Griffin
said.

She said that the overall numbers are slightly higher than in years
past and that the county's numbers are a little less than the state
averages.

Street value of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin has
declined recently, making the drugs even easier to get.

Justin Wilton, 16, of Fort Worth knows this first hand. Back home just
two days from Tarrant Youth Recovery Campus, he said some students
pass drugs between classes or get high during lunch.

"You can get pretty much anything you want, whenever you want," Wilton
said.

He was a straight-A student, isolated from schoolmates who called him
a nerd, among other things. He ate lunch alone. At home, he fought
with his parents whom he described as too strict.

When a friend of a friend offered him marijuana, he accepted it
without thinking twice. He became a habitual runaway and missed most
of his sophomore year at Arlington Heights High School.

"I was doing drugs to cover up my emotions," said Wilton, whose drug
of choice was cocaine. "I was depressed and I thought, maybe this will
make me feel better. It ended up making things a whole lot worse for
me."

By the time he went into a treatment center, he was 20 pounds lighter
and was pale with dark circles under his eyes.

"There were times we were too afraid to answer the telephone," said
his mother, Dianne Wilton. "We thought we'd get that dreaded call from
police to come and identify my son's body. Luckily, things turned out
a lot better."

He spent 60 days in a treatment center, where his life was turned
around. Justin Wilton said he plans to get his diploma at Cassata High
School.

"This is something we never thought we would have to go through,"
Dianna Wilton said. "We it did. If it can happen to us, I truly
believe it can happen to anyone."

Justin's woes mirror the countywide survey.

Among the other findings:

* Hospitals report that 10- to 19-year-olds make up the largest
group of drug overdose cases. The survey does not distinguish
between intentional or accidental overdoses.

* More than 1,400 adolescents were arrested last year on drug-related
charges.

* Although heroin, used in lethal doses, has grabbed local headlines
in recent years, young drug users say marijuana remains the drug of
choice among middle and high school students.

Parents play a key role in the prevention of adolescent substance
abuse. Early parental supervision may influence a child's decision
whether to associate with peers who use illegal substances, ultimately
influencing the child's decision to use drugs.

Recognizing the signs and owning up to the problems are imperative,
Griffin said.

Most parents, for instance, don't know much about inhalant abuse,
which is known as the "baby drug" for middle school students.

But inhalants, which includes a broad array of cheap and easily
obtainable household products -- spray paint, glue, or cigarette
lighter fluid -- should be viewed in the same high-risk category as
drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.

One way to attack the addiction problems among adolescents is through
prevention education, making more treatment centers available and
holding those who supply youngsters with alcohol and drugs liable for
their actions, Griffin said.