FORUM TARGETS DRUGS AND YOUTHS

Pregnant at age 15, addicted to cocaine and an ongoing recovery are all
part of 19-year-old Melissa Tirado's life resume.

She said many people have a hole inside themselves, and some fill it with
love, caffeine, drugs, food or alcohol.

Unfortunately, Tirado chose to deal with the changes in her life -- an open
adoption for her son and a seesawing weight problem -- through drugs.

"But drugs cause more pain," she said.

Tirado and a dozen other substance abuse prevention and counseling experts
poignantly discussed the disheartening effects of chemical dependency
during KLRN-TV's Neighborhood Conversation on "Addiction and Young People."

The forum held Saturday at San Antonio College was part of the public
television station's "Close to Home" program, a community partnership
underwritten by the University Health System to combat substance abuse and
addiction. The program will be televised later.

Youths are confronted with various myths, or big lies, said District Judge
Frank Montalvo, a panelist.

He said teens shouldn't believe that "everybody" is doing drugs or that a
person only smokes dope on the weekends.

Dr. Jose Garcia, medical director of Garcia Mental Health Systems and
director of Laredo Drug Detection Services, describes experimenting with
drugs as a form of Russian roulette.

"It's slanted Russian roulette, because the odds are heavy against the
player," he said.

Garcia said Rohypnol, known to many as the "date rape" drug, now is more
common than any other drugs abused by youths.

Addiction to alcohol, narcotics, nicotine or even the Internet, panelists
said, is serious when it begins to affect everyday life.

Garcia said parents teach their children a set of values such as going to
church and respecting elders.

"When you see those values like notes on the chalkboard . . . when drugs
enter the system, the values fade away," he said.

Some of the most common symptoms of addiction are low self-esteem;
detachment from healthy friends; dropping out of organized activities, such
as sports or clubs; increasing agitation or aggressiveness; and lack of
good hygiene.

Oliver Stambaugh, a recovering addict and licensed chemical dependency
counselor at Laurel Ridge, said despite all the signs and symptoms, there
is a feeling of hopelessness.

"Usually the addict is the last person to find out they have a problem," he
said.

The onset of addiction begins with periodic quick fixes, followed by a
downward spiral of internal conflict and morning guilt, later leading to
more frequent fixes or a higher amount of intake, Stambaugh said.

By this time, a person's self-esteem decreases and the alcohol, or drugs,
starts to take over the financial, spiritual and emotional health of the
user.

"If you are anywhere in between, get help," he said. "You don't have to
wait to hit the bottom."

The next Neighborhood Conversation will focus on "Addiction and the
Elderly" from 10 to 11 a.m. Oct. 9 at the Forum at 311 W. Nottingham Drive
in Lincoln Heights.