TEEN METH USE OUTPACES TREATMENT

As Youths' Meth Use Rises, Treatment Lags

Methamphetamine - virtually unheard of among young drug users a few years
ago - has replaced other hard drugs as the preferred high among adolescents
in Iowa, officials say.

The surge comes as counselors and advocates for youth say funding for
ongoing treatment is in short supply and the cost of treatment for some of
the most vulnerable teen-agers has become prohibitive.

Schools in both rural and urban districts also have begun to request more
help from the state in dealing with meth-related problems, officials say.

"It's coming down now to where kids are being exposed to it at home, put in
danger by parents or older relatives, and use it on their own," said David
Wright, coordinator for a violence- and drug-prevention program for the
state Department of Education.

What will happen to legions of Iowa youths who are experimenting with the
drug - even if they manage to quit using it - is the "untold story of
methamphetamine," said George Belitsos, director of Youth & Shelter
Services in Ames.

"It's having a devastating impact," Belitsos said. "It's doing permanent
damage. Even for those who do recover . . . they are going to continue to
have trouble coping."

Many of those tending to the problem applaud efforts to step up law
enforcement and prison terms for meth dealers, but they question whether
those who need treatment - particularly adolescents - are getting lost in
the siege.

"The state is spending a lot of money on incarceration, which is great, but
the dollars for treatment and after-care services are very little," said
Janice Lane, director of Children and Families of Iowa's Cornerstone
Recovery Program in Ankeny.

While fewer than 25 youths sought help for meth addiction five years ago,
113 did so during the state's last fiscal year, said Dr. Ron Eckoff,
medical director of the Substance Abuse and Health Promotion Division of
the state Department of Public Health.

The number of meth-addicted adolescents in treatment, which spiked in 1997
to 139, is expected to jump again this year, Eckoff said.

While marijuana and alcohol remain the drugs abused most often by Iowa
teens, experts say, meth is of particular concern because of its highly
addictive nature and volatile effects on the body. Also called crank, the
drug can cause permanent brain damage and LSD-like flashbacks. Long-term
effects aren't clear, but researchers have said the drug is more damaging
to the brain than cocaine, marijuana or alcohol.

Adults who have worked with meth-addicted teen-agers say many go to great
lengths to feed their habit, including prostitution. Those who use needles
also put themselves at risk for serious disease.

"We've had some youth here who have been HIV-positive or gotten hepatitis
from swapping needles," said Mitchell Henry, case manager of Buchanan
Recovery Center, a Des Moines transitional home where youths often stay
after treatment.

Adults ages 21 to 34 remain the state's biggest meth users, but recent
trends suggest adolescent use continues to escalate.

* Two years ago, a state poll of 22,400 students in grades six, eight, 10
and 12 concluded that about 6 percent had tried meth. At alternative
schools, which serve about 6,600 students who do not perform well in
traditional settings, the percentage was 37 percent. State officials
anticipate the percentage will climb across the board when the survey is
taken next fall.

* Two of every three teens in treatment at Ames' Youth Recovery House, the
largest adolescent residential treatment center in the state, have used
methamphetamine.

* In Polk County, arrests of teens for meth-related crimes now make up
about one-tenth of all juvenile delinquency cases, said Ed Nahas, juvenile
court spokesman. Once on probation, 60 percent of juveniles test positive
for meth, he said.

Lane, of the Cornerstone Recovery Program in Ankeny, and others also say
they hear more reports of adults trying to lure adolescents into meth sales
and production.

The Department of Education's Wright said school districts across the state
call his office for assistance with meth-related problems. "It's as true in
little communities like Northwood-Kensett by the Minnesota border as it is
at the elementary school a couple blocks from where I work here in Des
Moines," he said.

Meth has gained in popularity among teens for many of the same reasons it
lures adults. Cheap and readily available, the high is long-lasting and
powerful. Teen-agers use it for recreation, to cram for tests, to work long
hours and to lose weight.

But the drug also can cause violent behavior and extreme paranoia. The drug
often is cited as a cause of teen-age crime, such as the rampage of Chris
Kauffman and Jamie McMahan, Oskaloosa youths who killed two women last year.

While authorities report sufficient outpatient drug treatment in Iowa,
those who counsel youths say funding for long-term care and follow-up
treatment is hard to get. Recovering teens are sometimes prematurely
shuffled into other programs because insurers and managed-care plans cap
residential stays.

"Our average stay has gone down from four to six months to 30 to 35 days -
that's all managed care will cover," Lane said. "Thirty days of primary
treatment is just scratching the surface."

However, one official said those best served in treatment may be poor
adolescents who are uninsured or underinsured.

Ben Kahn, head of the state's current managed-care substance-abuse plan,
said 98.8 percent of those patients who request treatment are covered "at
the level that's needed."

"We don't terminate very often," he said. "We do not kick kids out."

Even so, adolescent meth users, who can be more impulsive and
vulnerable than other drug users, are more inclined to drop out of
treatment, counselors say. And with inpatient care, relapse and runaway
rates are high.

Dr. Michael Abrams of Des Moines' Broadlawns Medical Center said the best
indicator of success with any form of treatment is the length oftime that
someone adheres to the program. Those who stick with follow-up care for a
year or more have better chances of kicking the addiction, he said.