TEENAGE WASTELAND?

SUMMIT COUNTY - Despite the rumors of another kegger in the woods, the
party on Thursday, June 30, made its way to a quiet stretch of
Hummingbird Circle in Silverthorne. Teens packed into one of the
neighborhood's many two-story homes - in the living room, atop the
loft, on the deck, even in the absent-owner's bedroom. The keg was in
the bathroom downstairs, in a tub filled halfway to its top with water
and ice.

A teenager wearing a blue Kangol hat over streaky blond hair jumped
into the party.

"Here, watch this trick!" he said.

He grabbed a handle of Smirnoff vodka and took a shot with his
cigarette still tight between his lips. The cigarette fell to the
ground, and the vodka spilled across his shirt.

"Crap!" he said. "That didn't work."

With his cigarette re-lit, the teen said the keg was in the bathroom
on the first floor inside - $2 a beer - and the pot was on the second.
The "Weed Wagon," a long, white van parked beside the deck, was out of
commission for the evening.

Indoors, some teens were in the living room drinking beer to the pulse
of classic rock. Others were in the kitchen rummaging through the
owner's supply of Ramen noodles. Upstairs, a more intimate group of
boys were spaced around a Navajo ottoman, rolling a joint.

"Weed is just a daily event," one of them said, adjusting the Hempy's
ski beanie on his head. "You're always high in Summit County."

He passed a business card to his friend, Evan, to assist in the
rolling. "There are definitely some burn-outs," he added, "but the
police need to go easy on locals. All we do is smoke weed."

"Yeah," Evan (who still sports a mouth full of braces) agreed. "What
we try to do is re-enact 'Dazed and Confused.' A lot of people do do
coke. I don't do coke personally, but a lot of people do do it regularly."

He lit the joint, took a puff and passed it to his left - to a growing
ring of teenagers, all enrolled at Summit High School. Soon, the party
calmed and produced their list of the most commonly used illicit
drugs in the county:

1) Weed
2) Cocaine
3) Mushrooms
4) Acid
5) Meth

Not out of the norm Although one party or circle of friends can't
speak for a county's youth, statistics show that the gang in
Silverthorne weren't too far off the mark.

When it comes to weed, for instance, a recent survey conducted by
Hobart and William Smith Colleges found that 34 percent of Summit High
seniors had used marijuana in the last 30 days. The national average
was 20 percent. Two grades lower, 27 percent of 10th graders reported
smoking pot, versus a national average of 16 percent.

"Marijuana has always been the big player in that age group," said
Sheriff John Minor. "(But) from what we understand, there is some meth
and cocaine too. We've seen everything from heroin to Ecstasy to you
name it. You can get any kind of drug you want in Summit County."

Surveys show that teens can get those drugs at a young age, as well.
Twenty-eight percent of Summit County sixth graders acknowledged early
initiation of drug use in the Colorado Youth Survey.

That figure rose to 34 percent for Summit High seniors.

"Obviously alcohol and other drug use is a serious problem here in
Summit County," said Jeanie Ringelberg, executive director of the
Summit Prevention Alliance, a program that organizes a countywide
drug-free coalition.

"In order for us to address the problem, it needs the attention of
parents, youth, policy makers, health care providers - basically our
whole community," Ringelberg said. "It's not just the problem of
schools or of families. It's a community problem."

That became starkly clear nine days ago when 23-year-old assistant
basketball coach Joe Weaver fell three stories from a teenage party at
Main Street Station in Breckenridge. Weaver was the only person of age
at the party. He landed in the public patio of the Quandary Grille,
close to the late-night tourists on Breckenridge's Main Street. Before
Weaver was flown by Flight For Life to Denver, the cops handed out 10
underage drinking tickets.

Nineteen bottles of mango vodka were found in the apartment. The
incident didn't surprise recent Summit High School graduate Brittony
Corneillier, a two-time debate state champion and a self-proclaimed
"good girl."

"We live in such a small community, and we don't have many resources,"
Corneillier said. "What are we going to do on a Friday night? We don't
have a bowling alley, and we've seen all the movies. Instead of
hanging out in (Downstairs at) Eric's parking lot, you go and find a
party."

Although Corneillier said she never uses illicit drugs, she and what
she estimated were seven out of 10 of her peers drank alcohol at
parties, a trend she was hesitant to call a problem. High schoolers
across the country drink, she said, and the teenagers using cocaine,
methamphetamines and mushrooms at Summit High are in the minority.

Teens at the party in Silverthorne felt similarly. Perched in the
loft, most said the party scene they experienced sifted down from
previous generations of drug users - typically their parents, ski bums
and the "Colorado's Playground" tourist culture. But they saw little
problem in indulgence.

"We're not drinking and driving," one of them said. "We're getting
drunk and (smoking weed), and staying in the same place." Sadie, an
incoming senior at Summit High, agreed.

"Summit County is not all about drugs," she said with Evan's joint in
hand. "Coke (only) happens because it runs through the county. There's
no way to avoid it. People originally moved here to do it. Tell the
cops to leave us alone 'cause we have it under control."

Summit County Undersheriff and Drug Force Commander Derek Woodman is
not so ready to comply. Woodman has been in the county for more than
24 years and believes that this generation's drug use is rising at
rates that warrant attention.

"The drug availability - whether it be marijuana or cocaine, the
prominent ones our youth are dabbling in - certainly has expanded," he
said, pointing to the Front Range in particular as a major pipeline
for Summit County's youth. "The cost of drugs has continually dropped
. and the purity of the drugs has continued to increase."

But he, too, acknowledged that alcohol was a habitual component of
teenage life, one that hasn't necessarily changed over
generations.

"Do I think it was any different when I was in high school? Not
really," Woodman said. "I think it's a historical thing. It was
probably the same when my dad was in high school."

"These are not new trends," seconded Sheriff Minor. "There's always
been a party culture from time to time that rears its head in Summit
County."

The Sheriff paused.

"And when we were teenagers, what did we do?" he asked. "(We tried) to
find a party without getting busted."

Some teen sources in this story requested that their real names not be
used. The Summit Daily News policy is to run anonymous names to
protect someone from harm (physical or employment) or to protect
someone from criminal charges.

Help is a phone call away If you feel you or your child is at risk,
contact the Summit Prevention Alliance for prevention and education at
(970) 668-2077 or Colorado West for health counseling and intervention
at (970) 668-3478.