PARENTS, SCHOOL TRY TO CURB DRUG USE

Drugs are everyone's problem.

That was the consensus Tuesday night when La Salle-Peru Township High
School hosted a community organizational meeting to talk about drug usage
in the Illinois Valley.

"The purpose for this meeting is to have a beginning," said L-P principal
Deb Nelson. "We're at a point where I think it is important to tie all the
stakeholders together."

Parents, elected officials, members of the clergy, representatives from
several police departments, teachers and community members listened as Amy
Woods, student assistance program coordinator at L-P, talked about
statistics from a recent student survey.

In January, around 1,100 students voluntarily filled out a survey about
their drug and alcohol use, perceptions of how much classmates use drugs
and alcohol and reasons why substances are abused.

Although 39.8 percent of students said they use alcohol, the numbers did
not surprise parents in attendance.

"I was not shocked by the numbers. They were actually what I was thinking,"
said Debbie Zawacki, a parent of a teen-ager.

Mandy Sienkiewicz, a 2005 graduate from L-P, said the numbers are accurate
because "there's a lot of usage in the school."

Tobacco use was the next most common substance at 26.1 percent. That
percentage jumped from 17.7 percent to 23.6 percent from freshman to
sophomore year.

La Salle police chief Rob Uranich can attest to the trend of younger
children using drugs or alcohol.

"In the very young, starter ages, there is more usage than in the past,"
Uranich said. "The younger ones have become more prevalent."

Thirteen to 15 years was the average age students began using cigarettes,
alcohol or marijuana, according to the survey. Most students said they used
these main three drugs to "fit in."

"The results of the survey are not just a reflection of L-P High School,
but the entire community," Woods said.

Kerrie and Larry Borelli from La Salle said they have concerns for their
sophomore and eighth-grade students, but also are worried about the community.

The use of marijuana was 12.7 percent but more alarming was the not the
rate of cocaine, heroin and other elicit drug use, but that the percentage
of students using those drugs increased as they got older. A little over 2
percent of students said they have used cocaine or heroin.

"It's the increased number of overdoses coming through the ER that worries
us," said Jeanette Coughlin, Illinois Valley Community Hospital assistant
administrator. "Not a week goes by that we don't see an overdose."

In hopes of preventing deaths, L-P handed out a questionnaire to attain
feedback.

The results will be compiled and there will be another meeting in August.

"Doing something about this problem is a whole community problem," said
IVCH director of social services, Dawn Moutray. "It needs to be coordinated
so it is not a piecemeal thing."