SURVEY SHOWS STAGGERING ABUSE OF ALCOHOL, DRUGS AMONG AREA TEENS

In the parking lot of the high school lies a broken beer bottle. Shattered
brown glass barely held together by a faded silver label. It's just one of
half a dozen bottles scattered across the asphalt amidst fast-food wrappers
and soda cans. The bottles are telltale evidence of underage drinking
before a basketball game.

But school administrators don't need a sign.

They already know a majority of Helena's high school students use alcohol
and other drugs. In fact, the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS),
administered to Helena seniors by the Office of Public Instruction,
indicated 65 percent had used alcohol in the previous 30 days. And roughly
nine percent of Helena's high school students admitted consuming alcohol on
school property in the month prior to the survey.

Twenty six percent reported using marijuana in the previous month,
according to the survey, and 32 percent of Helena's high school seniors
said they had attended school while drunk or stoned.

And those are just the high school students.

At the middle school level, 27 percent reported using alcohol in the
previous month. And 20 percent of Helena's 6-8 graders have tried inhalants
like paint, household cleaners and other aerosols to get a high.

By public health standards, the numbers could easily indicate an epidemic.

While the use of marijuana and other drugs has increased over the past
decade, the drug of choice for most Helena teenagers is still alcohol.

In Montana, some 41 percent of teenagers -- age 12 to 17 -- engage in binge
drinking, which is defined as drinking five or more alcoholic beverages in
two hours or less, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and
Human Services (DPHHS) Prevention Needs Assessment Survey (PNAS). That
number exceeds the national average by more than 10 percent, and puts the
Big Sky State fourth in the nation for the use of alcohol by teenagers.

The OPI's survey reported almost identical findings.

"Based on the 2002 survey that's 25,775 kids," said Pete Surdock, project
director of the Chemical Dependency Bureau at DPHHS. "Roughly 60 percent of
them have (been on a drinking binge) two or more times in the past two weeks."

"And 50 percent of our kids who drink drive," Surdock continued. "What do
you think the other 50 percent do? That's right, they ride with them. So
what that means is on any given weekend you've got 12,000 Montana kids
driving drunk on the roads."

Judy Griffith, the chemical awareness program coordinator for the Helena
School District, couldn't agree more.

"The use of alcohol is a monumental problem," she said, noting that alcohol
causes more problems for young people and adults than all other forms of
drug abuse combined.

But it shouldn't take numbers from a survey for Helena residents to
recognize a problem -- no clearer example exists than the recent vandalism
of YMCA Camp Child near Avon. The children's camp was trashed by Helena
teenagers, who were apparently celebrating the Capital High School state
football championship win.

More than $3,000 in damage was done to the camp's buildings and grounds. A
lengthy investigation resulted in only two citations, although law
enforcement officials said they believed the keg party involved at least
100 young people. The YMCA did not wish to press charges against those
involved.

"There's a great reluctance to face this because, as a culture, we have
such ambivalent feelings about alcohol," Griffith added.

But vandalism is minor in comparison to the increased risk of violence,
suicide, rape and fatal traffic accidents that have been linked to
teenagers' use of alcohol and other drugs. Many of those tragedies come on
the heels of binge drinking.

"Five in two hours, that's nothing, they laugh at five," Griffith said.
"Kid s who drink heavily don't consider that a significant amount."

Chances are, parents have no idea their children are drinking so heavily.

A study done by the U.S. Department of Education reported that three
percent of parents believed their teenagers had consumed five or more
drinks in a row in the previous month, while 33 percent of their children
admitted doing so.

"The three most dangerous words a parent can say are 'not my kid,' "
Griffith said. "This is an equal opportunity problem."

But drinking isn't all parents should be concerned about. Over the past
decade, marijuana use by teens in Helena has steadily increased. Findings
of the YRBS survey indicate 27 percent of Montana's youth are regular users
of pot, and 12 percent of them started before they were 13.

By the numbers, it would appear more young people are experimenting with
marijuana before they're even in their teen years. According to that same
survey, the number of students who reported using pot before age 13 has
doubled in the past five years.

Surdock said he believes that increase is because fewer young people
believe pot is dangerous.

"If the drug is not perceived to be harmful, then more kids are likely to
use it," Surdock added. "But it is. The marijuana on the streets now is 10
times more powerful than the marijuana on the streets in the '60s."

The YRBS survey indicated that nine percent of Montana teens have used
cocaine, 12 percent have use methamphetimines and 15 percent have used
inhalants.

The Helena School District's decision to use drug detection dogs on school
property to search common areas raised the ire of some parents. The dogs,
owned by the Helena Police Department, have made several appearances in
both of the high schools this past year.

No drugs have been found on any of the searches, which could be considered
a surprise, especially since almost 30 percent of the students who filled
out the YRBS survey in 2001 reported they had been offered, sold or given
an illegal substance on school property during the previous month.