TEEN DRUG, ALCOHOL USE 'NIGHTMARE' FOR PARENTS

'The drug situation that's going on in our world is a sad thing. The
families are affected by it. We tried so hard over several years to
get Brandon out of that lifestyle.'

Drug addiction for youths does not usually end in death like it did
for Brandon Moore, whose dealer is facing at least 20 years in prison
now that she has been convicted of fatally selling him methadone.

But it is nonetheless a years-long nightmare for the parents,
grandparents and other loved ones who experience the bizarre
behavior, arrests, incarcerations and futile rehabilitation attempts.

Moore died at age 21 last April 23, after Tiofila "Toffie" Santillana
provided him with methadone pills that, combined with cocaine,
benzodiazepine, Xanax and alcohol, put him in a 13-day coma from
which he could not recover.

His grandfather, James Owen of Odessa, testified in the U.S. District
Court trial and said afterward the 6-foot-2-inch youth "was a sweet
kid when he wasn't using drugs.

"We don't bear any ill well toward Toffie or Emily," said Owen,
referring to 22-year-old Emily Suckarieh, who pleaded guilty to
giving Moore Xanax and will get as many as four years on Feb. 5.
Santillana will be sentenced March 31.

"We just want justice," Owen said. "The drug situation that's going
on in our world is a sad thing. The families are affected by it. We
tried so hard over several years to get Brandon out of that lifestyle.

"He had a normal life up until age 14. He was fun loving and loved to
fish and hunt. He rode Motocross until he hurt his back. Then he got
involved with some older boys who were into the drug scene and it was
downhill from there."

Owen said Moore went through the 12-week Teen Challenge
rehabilitation program here at 17, moved to San Marcos and was about
to go to prison for theft when his family had an attorney get him
into another Teen Challenge there. "He got a GED and had a little boy
in Spring Branch and was supporting him," his grandfather said.

"Brandon came back to Midland and became involved with a woman who
gave him a Lortab for his back. I was kind of surprised when he was
hospitalized because he had always been pretty careful. He recognized
it was dangerous, but once kids get into narcotics, it's so hard to
get them out. It just possesses them."

Doing well working in attics for a local air conditioning and heating
company, Moore panicked and left when required to undergo a random
drug test; however, the company would have provided counseling and
kept him on if he hadn't quit, Owen said.

Palmer Drug Abuse Program Counselor Frank Janousek said the nightmare
has four stages -- experimentation, beginning to seek drugs for
oneself rather than only using them when proffered by others,
starting to use them obsessively and then full blown addiction,
indiscriminately mixing narcotics and disregarding the negative
physical and social consequences.

"It progresses faster with teens because their bodies haven't
matured," Janousek said. "The human anatomy generally matures for
males at 21 while the brain grows until 24-25. The mind changing
chemicals kids put in their bodies have detrimental effects on the
tissue."

He said young people tend to be less heedful because they readily
bounce back from a night of dissipation. "They can't understand why
mom and dad or the police are so upset," he said, adding
rehabilitation "depends on the kid's willingness and what he wants to
do.

"They say, 'I know what I'm doing!'" said Janousek. "The youngest
alcoholic I have seen, having the shakes, was 19. I've heard of a
9-year-old marijuana smoker. Forty percent of all teens who start
drinking before 15 will develop alcoholism or become problem drinkers.

"The drug toxins cause the euphoria. There's a potentiation factor
with poly substance abuse where the effects are magnified. Instead of
one plus one equals two, it's one plus one equals 10."