TEEN TELLS OF WALK ON WILD SIDE

A Woodstock teen who used drugs, lived on the street and was finally jailed
tells his frightening tale in a national documentary airing tonight.

Nathanael Rose, now 16, was one of about 35 metro Atlanta youth interviewed
in August for the Straight Scoop Road Tour produced by the White House
Office on National Drug Control Policy and cable company MediaOne. Rose
said he has recovered physically, emotionally and spiritually from his
trials. Unlike the Frontline documentary on wild teens in Rockdale County,
this film has a blatant anti-drug message from teens told to other teens.
The tour visited kids in Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, Richmond and
Washington. Student reporters interviewed other teens about how drugs
affect their communities, themselves and their peers.

The documentary will be broadcast tonight, at 5:30 p.m. on MediaOne cable
channel 33. The documentary will be rebroadcast at the same time every
Tuesday through the end of the year. The video also will be distributed to
schools across the country.

Atlantans were briefly introduced to Nathanael about four years ago. Then a
bright, extroverted 12-year-old, he responded to a request by rock radio
station 99X for people to call in who lived "weird" lifestyles. Nathanael,
who thought being home-schooled qualified, quickly captured the attention
of the station's morning show announcers.

Nathanael was comfortable chatting on the radio, and the announcers asked
him back as a special guest.

But Nathanael's life soon changed. After he turned 13, his parents
divorced, and his mother took a job. Nathanael chose to live with his dad
and attended Woodstock Middle School.

The teen said his behavior changed drastically the summer before his
freshman year of high school. He began smoking cigarettes and hanging out
with the wrong crowd. When school started, Nathanael skipped class with
friends and smoked marijuana. His dad worked a night shift so Nathanael's
nights were free.

He spent time at a pool hall where he easily scored LSD and marijuana.
Always on a search to fit in and find new highs, Nathanael went home with a
friend to "huff," or inhale, Freon. The two would inhale from a five-gallon
tank for a 13-second high. He talks about this experience in the documentary.

The second time Nathanael tried huffing, he passed out on the floor. When
he awoke, the leaking Freon had frozen his left arm and face to the
concrete floor. In the documentary, Nathanael showed his scars and pictures
taken in the hospital of third-degree burns on his face.

"I got up and it ripped the skin off," Nathanael said, displaying two large
wrinkled scars on his arm. "My face was really bad."

After spending several days in the hospital, Nathanael went back home with
his father. He settled down for about a month, but then Nathanael resumed
drinking, using drugs and skipping school. After fighting with his father,
Nathanael decided he didn't want to live at home any more. He ran away to
Atlanta and spent two nights walking around downtown scrounging money and
food before being arrested for possession of marijuana.

At 15, Nathanael was sent to DeKalb County's Youth Detention Center for six
days, and that was enough to set him straight.

Nathanael feels he was lucky--a Cherokee County judge sentenced him to two
years' probation with 24-hour adult supervision. He now attends a small
private school and is close to getting off probation. The talkative,
outgoing teen said he wants to start speaking to school groups about drugs
and family problems to help kids avoid what's he's been through.

Another Georgia youth is in the documentary, but from the other side of the
camera. Senior Cotrell Qualls of Atlanta, who was a reporter, said he found
that teens face the same situations when it comes to resisting drugs.

"It contradicted so many others' opinion that it only affects one
community," Cotrell said. "In actuality we all have different stories and
lifestyles and encounter the same situation or party scene." He talks on
camera about his father's fight with drugs and how it hurt his family.

"From early on I'm taught it's not something you do," he said. To avoid the
pressure, Cotrell said he tries to stay away from situations that could get
him into trouble. "It's all how you carry yourself and who you hang out
with," he said. Cotrell, who attends the DeKalb School of the Arts, hopes
to attend Morehouse College next fall.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy started the road tour to portray
accurate, real-life stories to counter adolescents' ideas that drug use is
normal. The focus is middle schoolers because officials say that's when
kids usually start experimenting with drugs, sex or violence.