SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISCUSSED AT "LUNCH AND LEARN"

Drug treatment counselors are fighting two battles -- against increasingly
dangerous drugs and against apathetic families, a Goldsboro specialist said
Wednesday.

Michael Herring had a 16-year-old client whose mother knew that he was
frequently using cocaine. The mother's only comment was "You better
not get into any trouble with it," Herring said.

Herring, a certified clinical addictions specialist, spoke about
substance abuse at Wednesday's "Lunch and Learn" seminar. The event
was sponsored by the Mental Health Association in Wayne County.

Drugs have been regarded as a threat to society for centuries,
although some have slipped back and forth across the line of
respectability, Herring said. At times, coffee drinkers were punished
and cocaine has been legal.

Even today, the lines are blurred, he said. TV newscasts are full of
stories about drug crimes, broken up by commercial breaks promoting
miracle medication.

Local treatment facilities are seeing more people with problems with
methamphetamine, a stimulant known by many street names but most
commonly as "gas" here, Herring said. "They call it that because they
smoke it."

The drug worries Herring because the manufacturing process includes
several chemicals that can be harmful by themselves. "You reckon they
have any scientists putting that together?" he asked. "People are
putting who knows what in their bodies."

These drugs can be especially dangerous to young people because they
don't have the decision-making ability to weigh the potential risks,
he said.

He cited some statistics from national surveys of high school
students:

*90 percent of high school seniors have tried alcohol.

*20 percent of 17- and 18-year-olds say they drink on a regular
basis.

*15 percent of teens admit to having tried cocaine.

*Underage drinkers are estimated to drink more than 20 percent of all
alcohol consumed in this country.

Substance abuse has dire consequences for teens, he said. Drugs or
alcohol are involved with 70 percent of all suicides, 50 percent of
all date rapes, and 25 percent of all accidental deaths.

Yet some young people start using drugs with their families'
knowledge, even permission. How does a counselor make any progress,
Herring wondered, when teens admit that they smoke marijuana with
their parents? Families get into trouble when parents don't set rules,
he said. "When the kids get to be teen-agers, they run the house."

Although intervention and counseling have good success rates,
prevention is the best "drug treatment," he said. "We know it works
because people have to make a decision to have that first drink or to
smoke that first cigarette."

Parents need to prepare children for the difficult choices they'll
face, he said.

Young people will tend to make the right choices if, by the age of 12,
they have strong sense of family and their role in it, a spiritual
life, and knowledge of the dangers of illegal drugs, Herring said.

It's also important for children to develop attachments to adults,
other than their parents, who can serve as role models and confidants,
he said. Teachers, coaches and spiritual leaders can fill these roles,
he added.

Herring works as a substance abuse clinical supervisor for the
Methodist Home for Children's Bridges Program. He also has a private
practice with Wayne Psychiatric Associates P.A. in Goldsboro.