LOCAL LEADERS DISCUSS CURBING DRUG ABUSE

Changing attitudes could be the start of reducing the use and abuse of
drugs in our community. That approach was the subject of discussion
Thursday for 40 people, including Mayor Chuck Tooley, County Commissioner
Bill Kennedy, Sheriff Chuck Maxwell, Police Chief Ron Tussing, United Way
Director Carol Burton, School District 2 officials, state legislators and
representatives from health and human service organizations.

They gathered in the basement of Deaconess Billings Clinic for a meeting of
the Billings/Yellowstone County Drug Prevention Planning Committee, a group
that branched from the Billings Healthy Communities Coalition earlier this
year.

A steering committee of several health service, business and education
professionals has poured over the possibilities for combating drinking,
tobacco use and abuse of other drugs. Montana State University Associate
Professors Ernie Randolfi and Carl Hanson presented the committee's
consensus: What parents, youngsters and the community think about alcohol
and other drugs contributes to underage smoking, drinking and drug abuse.

A survey of Billings students in grades 8, 10 and 12 showed that many teens
believed that their friends thought substance use is OK. They also saw
their parents and community as condoning their drinking.

Several people at the meeting offered examples of those problems:

Lack of concern about drunken driving and minor in possession offenses.

Parents renting hotel rooms for teens so they wouldn't drive home after a
night of drinking.

Parents providing alcohol for minors AD even kegs of beer AD to drink at home.

Conflicting messages about alcohol, such as community events that feature
drinking on the street or drinking at fund-raising events to benefit youth
programs.

A parent getting a court injunction to prevent the school from enforcing a
no-drinking rule so that a student could keep playing sports.

The group brainstormed ideas for changing attitudes.

School District 2 Trustee Katharin Kelker suggested that punishment
shouldn't be the only option for encouraging people to avoid substance use.

For example, she suggested, parents might be included in voluntary smoking
cessation classes with their teenage children to encourage both generations
to quit.

More volunteer opportunities for young people and more community volunteers
to working with needy youngsters were suggested by other participants.

Randolfi repeatedly reminded the group that the goal isn't a quick fix. The
committee is formulating a plan for long-term solutions that will span five
years.

Among other first steps for the community plan are: Identifying what
services are available for youths and what services are lacking and
establishing a communication network for sharing information about
community resources.

More information on the drug prevention effort is available on the Internet
at http://www.optimalhealthconcepts.com/prevention.

Pat Bellinghausen can be reached at 657-1303 or at pbelling@billingsgazette.com