STATE SURVEY SAYS TEEN SUBSTANCE ABUSE IS ON THE RISE

*Moorpark High to hold seminar for parents on drug and alcohol abuse
among high school and middle school students.

Concerned that some parents may be hosting parties where underage
drinking is taking place, Moorpark High School officials are holding a
forum tonight on drug and alcohol abuse.

School officials have been cracking down on drugs and alcohol after a
state survey showed substance abuse is on the rise.

One of the more effective tools against drug and alcohol abuse has
been the addition of a sheriff's deputy working at the high school,
officials said.

Juan Ponce, campus police officer from Moorpark Police Department, is
assigned to the school and several times a year the sheriff's K-9 unit
pays a visit.

Counseling and seminars are also helpful, officials
said.

"Mostly what we are doing is education," Ponce said. "We let parents
know this is what's happening out there. Check up on your student, we
tell them."

A state review of schools showed that Moorpark Unified School
District's alcohol and drug offenses skyrocketed more than 60% from
1997-1998 to 1998-1999.

What's more alarming is that school officials believe some parents are
hosting parties where they let underage youths drink alcohol,
according to Jennica Frickman, a counselor at Moorpark High.

"Parents will say as long as they drink here and they don't drive it's
OK," Ponce said. "But it's a problem because it encourages the
drinking instead of saying that we won't tolerate drinking."

"It's making it harder for us to do our job and keep teens away from
alcohol," he added.

Some parents believe that the first line of defense against drug and
alcohol abuse should come from the parents. "It's like safe sex," said
Howard Yaras, president of the Moorpark High School PTSA. "Are we
going to start supplying the kids condoms and telling them it's OK to
do it in the house? We should be teaching them abstinence."

School counselors hope that by informing parents of what is going on
they will make sure that their teenagers aren't attending these
parent-sponsored parties and will be more inclined to report any
unusual activity they see Ponce said.

"It would help us reduce the amount of occurrences if the possibility
of getting caught and facing the consequences was higher,"' Ponce
said. "These excuses that it's better for them to drink supervised are
not going to fly with law enforcement."

Sgt. Ron Nelson of the Moorpark Police Department said that over the
years his officers have responded to alcohol-related disturbance calls
and discovered the parents had been home the whole time.

"If we find that a parent is the responsible party then we cite them,"
Nelson said.

Already this school year, there have been seven incidents of drug and
alcohol abuse on campus. Students have been caught smoking marijuana,
carrying water bottles full of vodka and one teenager -- not from
Moorpark High School -- was caught selling cocaine, according to Ponce.

To help students say no to drugs and alcohol, the school's counselors
have provided confidential teen groups for substance abusers and the
student club Teens for Humanity has sponsored substance free events.

School Board Member David Pollock believes the school sponsored
programs should make teens guilty about abusing drugs and alcohol.

"Any student doing drugs at our schools should have their conscience
nagging at them," Pollock said. "Hopefully we are making it real
difficult for them to rationalize using."

The Moorpark Police Department will also be sponsoring an upcoming DUI
prevention program at the high school. The program features a grim
reaper that goes into the classroom and takes one student out of the
classroom every 15 minutes to show how many people die in alcohol
related accidents.

"We also get a group of student actors to come out and film a video
which shows them at the scene of a car crash, undergoing surgery at
the hospital, going to the jail, the morgue and eventually the cemetery."

Nelson hopes that the video will deter students from drinking and
driving.

"I don't think we have an epidemic," Pollock said. "But it is
something that requires constant vigilance."

FYI

WHAT: Parent substance abuse seminar

WHEN: Tonight at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Moorpark High School Performing Arts Center

COST: A $5 donation will be accepted at the door

PHONE NUMBER: (805) 378-6305

WHAT ELSE: High school officials encourage parents of both middle and
high school students to attend.