SUMMIT'S TEENS USE MORE DRUGS THAN NATIONAL AVERAGE

FARMER'S CORNER - Summit County teens drink and use more marijuana
than the national average, according to a Hobart and William Smith
Colleges survey in 2004.

And now community members are getting serious about decreasing youth
drug and alcohol use.

Wednesday, about 40 people met at Summit High School to listen to
professionals talk about the impact of drugs on the brain and on
learning. Then they broke into small groups to discuss their vision
and action plan for a healthy community.

The discussion was the second of three addressing issues in the Summit
School District.

Last month, the school board focused on nutrition, and on March 9, it
will consider the possibility of a dual-language program.

Drug use findings

Jeanie Ringleberg, executive director of Summit Prevention Alliance,
presented facts on youth drug use in Summit County, noting that
alcohol use surpasses the national average by 5 percent to 12 percent,
depending on grade level.

By the senior year, 54 percent of students report using alcohol in the
30 days before the 2004 survey.

Marijuana use exceeds the national average by 4 percent to 14 percent;
by the senior year, 34 percent of students report using marijuana in
the past 30 days.

Most kids start experimenting with chemicals between the ages of 10
and 14.

They access alcohol or other drugs by stealing from parents or asking
older people (at bus stops, on the street or through siblings) to buy
it for them. Most use at parties at friends' houses or their own
house, she said.

They use to fit in, because they're bored and because the party- and
sensation-seeking-culture in Summit County promotes an attitude
consistent with drug use, she said.

Cocaine is the third most abused drug that mental health counselor
Kate Glerup sees at Summit High School, next to alcohol and marijuana.
She also sees a high correlation between sexual abuse and addiction
and eating disorders.

Drug use (she includes alcohol in the definition of "drug") can impair
learning for 48 hours. Plus, drugs can cause a lack of motivation, she
said.

Community challenges

"Most parents ignore or minimize the impact of drugs on learning
because of lack of knowledge, embarrassment, their own substance abuse
or denial," Glerup said.

To compound the problem, most kids - though they're well educated on
the negative impacts of drugs - don't care. They know drugs
overstimulate the pleasure center, which over time causes damage, as
Dr. Robert Chalfant, director of Colorado West Mental Health, pointed
out in his presentation.

"To them, the high is worth all the bad stuff," Glerup said.

Plus, teens perceive their peers use more than they do. About a third
report never using alcohol, but teens think only 4 percent don't
drink. About 60 percent report using no marijuana, but teens think
only 6 percent don't use, Ringleberg said.

Possible solutions

The coalition plans to find ways to create a cohesive community that
values education, healthy families and awareness of negative
consequences for youth drug use.

After a 45-minute small group discussion, about six groups came up
with activities or goals to create a healthy community that focuses
more on an outdoor, sober, recreational lifestyle than a drug-using
atmosphere.

Some suggestions included: Encouraging nonuse contracts between
parents and students, providing alternative activities, creating a
diversion program or other clear, consistent consequences, increasing
resources for recovery, collaborating with ski resorts on marketing to
reduce the perception of Summit as a drunken playground, and
increasing education and awareness of substance abuse.

As the drug coalition continues to work on solutions to youth drug
use, it welcomes new members. It meets from 8-10 a.m. on the second
Tuesday of each month at the Community and Senior Center near Frisco.
The next meeting is March 8.