TEEN SUBSTANCE ABUSE BECOMING EPIDEMIC

KINGSPORT - There's a big white elephant called teenage substance
abuse living in our homes and schools.

And those that have been trampled by it say our community can't afford
to ignore the problem any longer.

A recent series of interviews with teens and drug counselors suggests
that the problem of teen drug and alcohol abuse is more of a problem
than many parents and school officials realize.

According to national statistics for 2002, 28.8 percent of teens age
12 to 20 recently drank alcohol, and 20.6 percent had used marijuana -
a slight decrease from last year. Nearly 53.8 percent of young adults
age 18 to 25 had used marijuana.

And more than half of youths age 12 to 17 indicated it would be fairly
or very easy to obtain marijuana.

Heroin and hallucinogen use among teens has increased in the past two
years, with use of drugs such as ecstasy reaching the highest level
yet in 2001.

The percent of youths age 12 to 17 who have tried cocaine increased
slightly from the year before from 2.3 percent to 2.7 percent in 2002.

One encouraging fact is that teens were less likely to use drugs or
alcohol if they perceived that their parents would disapprove.

Statistics that address teen drug use in East Tennessee are scarce,
but Nina Hancock, a therapist at Frontier Health's drug and alcohol
abuse day treatment center, can attest with personal experience of
what is going on with area teens.

"I would think we are right around what the nation is, and the surveys
I have seen are 20 to 43 percent use. ... The kids here tell me that
90 to 100 percent of kids use, and when I talk to other kids like at
my youth group or any time I talk to other kids, they tell me 70 percent.

"I think it is more prevalent than some of our studies and what some
of us like to believe - at least with experimentation,'' said Hancock.

The major drug for local teens is still alcohol and marijuana, because
Hancock said they are so easily accessible.

But Hancock said she has seen a trend in kids taking prescription
medication, or over-the-counter drugs like Coricidin. Taken in high
doses, the common cold medicine can produce a hallucinogenic effect.

Parents may not recognize that their teen may have a drug problem
until it's too late, Hancock said. What seems to be normal teen
behavior could be signs of addiction.

"Most parents don't realize the multiple drugs that kids have
experimented with. ... Even then, some of the problems of drug use fit
problems of adolescence: the moodiness, the personality changes. It's
hard for parents to know and believe that this is going on,'' Hancock
said.

Sullivan County Juvenile and Domestic Court Judge Stephen Jones said
he usually sees teens with a drug problem as they are spiraling toward
a serious addiction.

Of the 233 cases that Jones heard a week prior to an interview with
the Times-News, he said about 30 percent of those were drug and
alcohol related charges.

Jones also heard 11 neglect cases - six of which were alcohol and drug
related. The judge said alcohol and drug abuse is by far the number
one reason children are removed from their homes in Sullivan County.

In Jones' criminal court, 27 of 67 cases in one day were alcohol and
drug related specific charges.

But the number understates the extent of the problem, Jones
said.

"Even though 40 percent were direct charges. Once we do an assessment
of the child - even though his charge may have been theft or burglary,
same with adults - you find out that they have an alcohol and drug
problem, even though they weren't charged."

Teens who run into problems with drugs and alcohol may end up in
Kingsport's Comprehensive Community Services Adolescent Treatment
Center. The center treats an average of 250 teenage boys a year from
throughout Eastern Tennessee, with girls treated at other locations in
the state.

Program Manager Missy Glisson said the center sees kids from all
backgrounds dealing with a wide range of drug use. The center provides
a four-month treatment similar to that of Alcoholics and Narcotics
Anonymous programs.

"The common link is they all have some issue with alcohol and drugs.
There is a wide range from short-term experimentation to long-term use
and addiction, but that is their common link. We don't do detox, but
we pretty much do everything else. We try to address all the different
elements that go into the disfunction of individuals," Glisson said.

"They come from all over East Tennessee, including larger cities like
Knoxville and Chattanooga, so that in itself presents diversity,''
said Greg Harper, who served as the CCS's assistant program manager at
the time of the interview.

"There are guys that have lived in the inner cities and guys that have
never left their county. We also have diverse family backgrounds -
some come from upper-middle-class homes where their family is intact
and there is good family support, and then we also have other clients
who come from broken homes, from foster care."

"This is just like any disease - drug addiction and alcoholism know no
socioeconomic boundary,'' added Glisson.

For many kids, the heart of their problems stems from poor parenting.
Of the 18 kids who were enrolled at CCS at the time of the interview,
Glisson said the parents of only two teens had participated in family
counseling, and one of those families was mandated by the court to
attend.

And a large majority of those at CCS have grown up watching their
parents use and abuse drugs.

It's a vicious cycle that Jones sees in his courtroom every
day.

"Generally, it is the environment in most instances. I've had the dad
in one court and the juvenile in court charged with another offense.
They've seen it all their lives. A child is like a sponge. They'll
absorb everything around it. Even though there is peer pressure, still
the major influence in his life is his mom or dad. And if they are
abusing alcohol and drugs, there is a good chance that the kids will
be,'' Jones said.

"Then there are kids that are doing it for self-gratification. To make
them feel good, to get that ultimate high, to make it look like they
are part of the in-crowd. Usually their parents when I see them in
court are pretty good people,'' said Jones. "But before long, the
telltale signs are there. They will notice new friends. The kids that
make great grades, suddenly their grades are dropping. Their behavior
becomes bizarre. Sometimes their thought patterns are distorted."

"A lot of times the parents shrug it off as growing up, that it's not
a big deal. They'll come in late at night and have friends that the
parents don't know. Before long, they end up getting arrested. It
generally is for possession of drugs or alcohol,'' Jones explained.

Glisson and Harper said they have seen a disturbing trend in kids who
are drawn to the drug culture because it is "fun."

They said attitudes in society have changed regarding drug use. Ten
years ago, most teens regarded fellow students who used drugs as the
bottom of the social ladder - as the outcasts. Now, you're not cool
unless you drink or use drugs on a regular basis, Glisson and Harper
observed.

"Kids are so much more grown up now than even 10 years ago,'' said
Glisson.

"I think society as a whole, even in the U.S. is focused on fun, even
with adults. The same element that teenagers don't want to work or do
chores, and all they think about is running around playing video games
and having fun, is the same element of getting involved in drugs or
alcohol. They are chasing fun."

Jones said parents sometimes subscribe to the idea that life is
supposed to be about fun, and that can damage their children. The
instant gratification of using a charge card to buy things we can't
afford is the same "high" that teens are looking for.

"We have a national epidemic, really. This is a fast-paced world where
people, if they have to cut corners, they will. They want to get there
fast. They want to get all that they think life holds for them fast.
They'll take the direct route.

"Today kids have wheels. They've got cars, and they have money, and
they can buy drugs now that they used to not be able to buy - ecstasy,
cocaine, crack. And they've got the money to do it,'' Jones said.