RESEARCH SHOWS YOUTH SHOULD ABSTAIN FROM DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

Thanks to Kirsten Frandsen for her column in the June 22 issue of The
Beachcomber ("Drug and alcohol use among Vashon teens: Let science be
our guide.") As a Vashon resident, physician,Vashon High School
graduate and parent, I very much agree with her. In teenagers the
brain is still under construction. Society doesn't condone alcohol
consumption by pregnant women because we know it causes brain damage
in the developing fetus. By the time that baby is an adolescent, the
brain is still not fully mature and is more sensitive to the toxic
effects of drugs and alcohol.

There are more than 2,000 articles about the adverse effects of
underage drinking in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
alone, showing that teen alcohol use decreases the size and structure
of the brain, damages memory and cognition and decreases attention
span and the ability to learn.

Teens who drink are more likely to experience alcoholism and go on to
further drug use. Alcohol is involved in more than one-third of the
adolescent deaths associated with unintentional injury, homicide and
suicide. In addition, substance use can cause or mask anxiety or depression.

Vashon not only appears to have permissive attitudes towards underage
alcohol and drug use, but a steady supply -- from alcohol and marijuana
to meth and heroin. And although we know they cause neurological
damage, we don't know which child is predisposed to addiction.

We are a creative, intelligent community that loves its children.
Maybe that is why we allow them the freedoms that we do. We believe in
their capabilities and strengths so much that we can't imagine a few
drinks would harm them.

It is important to trust our kids but to also remember the adolescent
developing within. Teens need both open communication and boundaries
with substance use to help keep them safe. Early boundaries with
substances are a lot easier than rehab later on.

Kelly Wright