METH EPIDEMIC PLAGUES PASO HIGH SCHOOL TRYING TO STEER USERS TOWARD
RECOVERY

Methamphetamine use at Paso Robles High School has reached epidemic
proportions, according to some recovering teen addicts.

"It's out of control," said Melissa, a 14yearold freshman who said she's
been drug free for nearly three weeks. "At least 30 percent use meth."

Jane, a 17yearold collegebound senior, put the figure at closer to 40
percent. Jane is also a recovering meth addict who, like Melissa, agreed to
talk on the condition her real name not be used.

School counselors say the problem is so widespread they can't even venture
an accurate guess how many students use what is now considered by many the
drug of choice among teens.

Counselors and campus leaders called a meeting last week of about 60
students some admitted users of the drug and some who are concerned
about their friends' use in an effort to gauge the problem and to let
students know that they care.

The students were told the school is not interested in busting them but in
getting them into recovery programs, according to Jerry Cathey, a district
safety specialist who is also a parttime officer with the Paso Robles
Police Department.

In a twist on the heavyhanded approach many districts have used to combat
drug use, suspected users are being rounded up to listen to young former
addicts speak about the dangers of drug use and to participate in group
sessions. All this is an effort to make it easier for kids to take the
first step of admitting they have a problem. "We are not here to prosecute
kids," said Cathey. "We're here to help kids who are on drugs to get off
drugs."

Once the students seek help by entering the school's program, they are
subject to random drug tests issued by the county's Drug and Alcohol
Services program. But even these aren't used to issue citations or
punishment.

"Nothing happens if they test positive," said Terry Bertotti, a school
district counselor. "They just aren't let out of the program."

Methamphetamine often referred to as crank, crystal, speed, ice, tweak
or meth gives firsttime users such a euphoric high it can't be
repeated. Meth users, who are sometimes hooked as early as their second try
(see accompanying articles), wind up using the drug over and over in a vain
attempt to repeat that initial high.

"The only motivation is to get high again," Cathey said.

Part of methamphetamine's allure is that it is also cheap. Single hits
which can be snorted, smoked or injected can be had for as little as
$5. Twenty dollars can supply enough for a handful of users.

According to several students who are recovering addicts, the drug
initially makes them feel great and they become tremendously productive.
They clean their rooms, do their homework and feel positive. The drug also
works as an appetite suppressant, which makes it attractive to girls who
want to lose weight.

"It's the Jennie Crank diet," said Kristie Halsey, a counselor for the
county's Drug and Alcohol Services. "They don't have to eat. They're
looking beautiful ... they think."

Halsey said the meth problem is not isolated to Paso Robles. Other high
schools and middle schools in the county are dealing with similar
situations.

The alarming aspect, according to Cathey, is that it is not just troubled
kids who are using the drug. He expects that a small group of drug users
will exist at any school, but this involves more than just the
stereotypical druggedout teens who come from troubled homes and see little
hope for their futures.

"This is a problem that all types of kids are getting involved in," Cathey
said.

"It's not just the 'bad' kids," Halsey added.

Campus Supervisor Dan Burrell said many users come from seemingly solid,
middleclass families that typically don't involve as much drug use.

"We're finding kids who care about their lives... and are still having
problems," he said.

Although school leaders plan to step up group therapy sessions after the
holiday break, they say they need help from parents.

There are several signs parents can look for if they suspect their child is
using meth. Some include truancy, declining grades, weight loss, a sudden
onset of bad acne, fatigue during the day, increased irresponsible behavior
and rebelliousness, deteriorating relationships with family and friends,
and changes in their peer groups. Once these kinds of behaviors become
apparent, Halsey said, the child is often already hooked. She and Cathey
said that finding any evidence of drug use will likely require searching
through a child's room.

"Invade their privacy," Halsey said. "You may save their lives."

Bertotti suggested that parents find out where their kids are going and
then head over to see if there is a parent present. If parents do this, she
said, teens will realize their parents could show up at any time.

The next step for parents is crucial, according to counselors. They caution
against putting children on restriction or barring contact with friends.
This will may simply result in more rebelliousness.

Counselors say the answer is to contact any number of local services
offering help for addicted teens and their parents (see accompanying list),
and to take their kids to get a drug test.

But many parents, especially those who are drug users themselves, will have
to look further, according to Bertotti.

"Some parents have to take a look at their own behavior," she said, and
consider giving up something in order to set a good example for their
children. "Kids will do as you do, not as you say."

The kids generally do want to do better, according to Burrell.

"I think a lot of these kids want to quit," he said. "They see the dangers
in it, and what their friends are going through."

Cathey and Burrell, who have been at Paso Robles High School more than a
decade, say it's the most serious and damaging drug epidemic they've seen.

"I thought rock cocaine was bad," Burrell said. "This is worse."

The signs of meth use

There are several signs parents can look for if they suspect their child is
using meth.

Truancy
Declining grades
Weight loss
Sudden onset of bad acne
Fatigue during the day
Increasingly irresponsible behavior
Deteriorating relationships with family and friends
Changes in their peer groups

Where to go for help In addition to the local school counselor:

County Drug and Alcohol Services
San Luis Obispo: Adelle Kimzick, 7814753
South County: Jerry Shenum, 4737080
Paso Robles: Kristie Halsey, 4616080
Atascadero: Dan Reynolds, 4616080

North County Connection, 4616084

Lifestyles, a substance abuse counseling service at Second Baptist Church
in Paso Robles, 2382011

Healthy Start (individual & family counseling): 2382222

Paso Robles Youth Task Force, 2373990

So high, and then so low Three girls' stories offer glimpse of meth
addiction

A trio of Paso Robles High School students applauds the school's efforts to
help kids involved in drugs instead of arresting them.

The teenage girls, all former or current methamphetamine users who are
seeking help from counselors, spoke on the condition their real names not
be used.

All shared strikingly similar stories about how they started using the
drug, how it affected them and how addictive it is. In addition, the first
illegal drug each of them used was not marijuana or cocaine or even
methamphetamine, but alcohol.

Jane, 17, Melissa, 14, and Lisa, 15, all said they first started snorting
meth about a year ago, Jane, a senior, said she's been clean since March.
Melissa, a freshman, said she's been clean since she overdosed smoking meth
about two weeks ago.

Lisa said she took the drug a few hours before the interview.

All three first obtained meth from family or friends and said they were
hooked soon afterward. All noticed early on that the synthetic stimulant
made them feel more productive.

"I had a lot of energy," Jane said.

"It's wonderful at first," Melissa said. "You're homework is done, your
room is clean."

However, the initial benefits were fleeting. All three began using meth
every day and within weeks the good feelings were replaced by the telltale
signs of meth addiction: sleeplessness, weight loss, mood swings, truancy
and the sudden onset of acne.

"I stopped liking people," Melissa said. "I bacame afraid of them. Every
day I was paranoid."

Jane lost friends and more than 30 pounds off her already slender frame.
Lisa has dropped about 40 pounds, sacrificing along the way the trust of
family and friends and most of the hope she had for her future.

Admitting to still having a $10aday habit, Lisa holds out her red,
quivering hand to demonstrate two physical effects of meth addiction:
muscle twitching and a rash on her hands and forearms.

"I shake constantly," she said. "I can't stay still."

At first, Lisa said she took meth for the high. Since then, she feels the
need to smoke meth before she can get out of bed each morning.

"Now I just need to feel normal."

Although Lisa recognizes she has a problem, she hasn't been able quit like
the other two.

When Jane went days without eating nine months ago, she started getting dry
heaves. Several times she passed out while taking a shower.

"I realized it was time for me to stop," she said.

Somehow, she cleaned herself up without using counselors or any other
professional help.

Melissa reached out for the help of a counselor at the high school after
she overdosed nearly three weeks ago. She said she'll never forget her
experience after smoking more meth than she'd ever had before.

"I couldn't believe how quickly my body felt the effect," she said. "I had
so much adrenaline."

The rush faded fast, leaving her incapacitated.

"I was in bed and I couldn't move," she said, adding that she soon started
having an asthma attack that left her barely able to breathe.

A school counselor steered Melissa into the high school assistance program.
But she's found that recovery doesn't come easy.

"That pipe is your friend. It's your love," she said. "It's so dirty, but
it's so wonderful when your addiction is there."

Jane and Melissa encourage their friends who are still meth users to talk
with counselors and to get help. They said they can understand users'
distrust.

"I think a lot of time they feel this school is after them," Melissa said.
"I don't think students realize some people are here to help."

Neither felt they could approach their parents, who they described as
clueless about drugs.

"My parents had no idea," Jane said, adding they still don't know she used
drugs.

"I think they are so naive about how much drugs are out there," Melissa
said. "My parents are so busy ... they don't have time to notice it."

This was particularly upsetting to Melissa, who said her parents were
seemingly unaware how skinny she had become.

"I can't believe they didn't notice my weight loss, I want them to care
enough ... to notice."

Lisa's mother noticed, but that attention hasn't helped her quit. Even
seeing her cousin who overdosed on meth hasn't convinced her to stop her
own habit.

"She's like a whole different person" since using meth, Lisa said about her
cousin.

Even with the meth in her system, she can see that she is, too.

"My memory is, like, gone," she said. "It's embarrassing sometimes."

She said she forgets where she puts things, and often loses track of her
thoughts in the middle of a conversation. She also believes she may have
damaged forever the relationship with her family.

"It really makes me sad," she said, "I've lost my mom's trust. All my
family has turned on me."

But still, she continues to smoke meth.

"I want to come clean, but I don't try to. I know I need to, but I don't
want to. I'm not ready to."

Lisa warns anyone thinking of trying meth to avoid it.

"They might think, 'Oh, every once in a while.' They think they've got it
under control, like I think I do.

"Before they know it, ..." her voice trails off, not finishing the sentence.

"The only think it brings is trouble."

It has brought that and more for Lisa. Even though she has agreed to join a
peer group of addicts and recovering addicts at school, she speaks of
little hope of kicking the drug before it does some damage that can't be
fixed.

"I don't know what it's going to take. I don't know.

"I just go day by day."

Lisa pauses, her head downcast as she looks at the red blotches on her
hands.

"I don't know."

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