STRAIGHT TALK

Editor's note: The teen-agers quoted in this story received permission from
their parents to speak with The Montana Standard.

Bob Taylor took methamphetamine for the first time on his 14th birthday,
and not long after he stayed awake for six days on the drug. He already had
been smoking marijuana regularly since sixth grade, and had experimented
with cocaine more than a dozen times when he was 13.

Ashlee Beardslee began drinking regularly during her freshman year in high
school. She and her friends drank every weekend, and she ended up in the
hospital after her drunk boyfriend hit her. Staying sober on her 17th
birthday was one of the hardest things she ever did.

Pat Zerbst's introduction to alcohol was at his sister's 15th birthday
party. Nine-year-old Pat got drunk on beer and whiskey. He tried pot a few
years later, and by eighth grade was smoking it regularly. Within a few
more years, Pat was selling marijuana.

" All three of these kids were escaping something and filling a void," said
Cori Laeupple, a chemical dependency counselor at the ButteSilver Bow
Health Department. " They developed ways of surviving and dealing with that
stuff."

For the past few weeks, Bob, Ashlee, Pat and a handful of other local
teen-agers have been meeting with Laeupple for group therapy sessions at
the health department. The thrice-weekly sessions offer the kids a chance
to be heard in a nonjudgmental setting.

" We just work on getting them clean for three weeks," Laeupple said. "
Then I hope they have a better chance at remaining that way."

Youths most often end up in Laeupple's group through juvenile probation or
group home referrals, but any teen with a substance abuse problem is
welcome. Laeupple and Jodi Martz, another health department counselor,
invite anyone to recommend a child to the program.

" It doesn't hurt to have your kid looked at or talked to," Martz said.

Children are maturing faster than ever and facing situations their parents
never imagined, the counselors said.

" It's not easy for me to say anymore, 'When I was your age,"" Martz said.
" It's that significantly different."

" They do have so much more pressure than we ever dreamed of having,"
Laeupple said.

Ashlee, 17, joined the therapy group after taking a chemical dependency
evaluation. She qualified for in-patient alcoholism treatment but opted
for outpatient therapy instead.

" When I thought of the weekend, it would be drinking," Ashlee said. " I
wouldn't go home satisfied unless I went home totally annihilated."

Ashlee said her father is a recovering alcoholic, and she has gotten drunk
with her mother.

" That doesn't help me figure out it's wrong," she said.

Pat's mother also was involved in his drinking. He remembers she bought him
a six-pack of beer one time when he was in grade school, and when 40 people
were cited at his 18th birthday party for underage drinking, Pat's mother
was one of the adults who went to jail.

" Parents want to be friends with their children versus guides and
mentors," Martz said. " They need to get over that real quick."

Instead of worrying about whether their children like them, parents should
set good examples and be firm disciplinarians, she said.

" Most of all, kids need structure and unconditional love," Laeupple said.

But Martz is careful not to blame parents, many of whom understand
dysfunction as the norm.

" I think we should blame the culture," she said. " Many people don't have
a reference point on how to parent."

Bob, 14, doesn't know why his mother didn't notice he was regularly
stealing money from her to buy marijuana.

He was introduced to the drug in sixth grade by a friend, and soon was
smoking it at least every other day and sometimes daily.

" Usually after school, but if I had it before school, I'd do it," he said.
" I would just sit. The day would go by faster.

" I was buying an eighth every other day," Bob said. " It would last two
days when I started, but an eighth isn't that much any more. It's gone
quick. It takes more to get high, I guess."

Pat, 18, also went to school high; by 10th grade, he was smoking marijuana
every day.

" It was harder to concentrate," he said.

Laeupple isn't surprised the boys' drug use went unnoticed in school.

" A lot of times in school, teachers focus on behavior problems," she said.
" They might miss the other things, especially if they're doing pot.
They're not acting out."

Martz likened teachers' reactions to student drug use to the way they used
to view child abuse. They often try to stay out of it.

" I think people still wear some blinders," Martz said.

Ashlee found herself in the emergency room and her boyfriend in jail before
she realized how serious her drinking had become.

" I'd buy a bottle and try to make it last through the weekend, but it
wouldn't," she said. " We had buyers (people over 21), but when we got
really desperate, we'd get a bum to do it. We don't really care. We just
want it.

" If I took back all the money I spent on alcohol, I could buy myself a
car," Ashlee said. " If I had a car, I'd probably have five DUIs. I'm glad
I don't have a car."

One night when she and her boyfriend were intoxicated, they got into a
shoving match. He pushed her down onto the ground.

" My arm hurt, but I was so drunk it wasn't that bad," Ashlee said.

Later on, she asked someone to take her to the hospital, where she learned
she had a broken collar bone.

Ashlee has since started dating someone else, but she is still exposed to
alcohol through her friends.

" Everyone says you have to switch friends. It's so hard," she said. " You
have a reputation for drinking, so certain groups you can't hang with."

Laeupple and Martz believe it's unrealistic for teen-agers to address
substance abuse by completely avoiding any situation that involves alcohol.

" I don't talk to them about changing friends as much as how to deal with
them, how to say no, what to do in certain situations," Laeupple said. "
This is a small town. My guess is pretty much any kid, there's going to be
someone in their group who's using."

Most of the kids Martz knows who abstain lie to their friends about why
they don't drink. Claiming to be allergic to beer is easier than being
honest and saying it's illegal or dangerous, she said.

Tangling with the law was what landed Pat in group therapy -- and in front
of a judge. He was busted transporting a quarter-pound of the drug from
Washington to Montana.

" I'm feeling pretty good being clean," he said. " When I get off
probation, I'm going into the Marines and do something with my life."

He would tell other teens to stay away from drugs if he thought his opinion
would make a difference.

" They wouldn't listen," Pat said. " Young people do what they want to do."

" I wouldn't tell them not to drink," Ashlee said. " But I'd tell them
nothing good comes from it."

Ashlee hopes to find a full-time job to keep her busy and reduce her
opportunities to drink.

" I want to be able to take or leave a drink," she said. " Right now that's
pretty much like a fantasy."

Bob also wants to stay drug free, and thinks he'll be successful.

" I always smoked weed with my best friend. He just quit with me," he said.

For more information about group therapy at the chemical dependency center,
call 497-5070.