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Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Ann E. Marimow ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT HELPS TEENS IN TROUBLE Youths Seem Calmer Since Acupuncture Began At Juvenile Hall Santa Cruz County began offering acupuncture in July. Some teenagers with substance abuse problems credit the county's programs with helping their bodies cope with sobriety. One by one, dozens of hair-thin, copper-colored needles are expertly angled into ears, scalps, hands and necks. Lights are dimmed, curtains drawn and the breathy voice of Enigma fills the room. Sound like a trendy acupuncture clinic for the Silicon Valley stressed-out set? It's actually Santa Cruz County's answer to helping troubled teens charged with everything from arson to carjacking to drug abuse. At a time when the criminal justice system wants to treat teens like adults, Santa Cruz County has become the first in the country to treat them to acupuncture -- not to mention yoga, poetry and contemplative community meetings. Juvenile halls in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have long taught teens hip-hop and swing dancing. And Contra Costa County offers art and pet therapy. But Santa Cruz is unique in offering acupuncture to juveniles, ages 12 to 18, in custody. It's too early to tell whether the program is helping teens deal with drug addiction, hyperactivity and anger, but staff members say the youths are calmer and less likely to act out since acupuncture was introduced in July. They are more focused in the classroom and sleeping better at night, said Michelle Finch, the hall's director. ``At first they go in as a goof, as a social club,'' staff member Fernando Vegas said. ``Then they get results and it surprises them; it surprises me. They mellow out and open their minds.'' Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, one of the hall's classrooms is transformed into an acupuncture clinic for an hour. Desks are dragged to the corners of the room and extra chairs serve as foot rests. Acupuncturist Nikki Cutler, who typically treats groups of about eight, arrives armed with cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, relaxing music and packs of sterile needles. Pricking various points on the ears, hands, neck and scalp stimulates the secretion of natural mood elevators like endorphins, Cutler said. ``I'm not going to fix all their health problems,'' she said, as the teenagers swabbed their ears with alcohol. ``But when they're here, they can relax and know what it's like to feel good without drugs.'' For participants like Joey, the 10 tiny needles placed with precision in the peaks and valleys of his ears didn't provide instant relief. A month of treatment, he said, combined with yoga and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, eventually helped him relax and sleep without heroin. ``It doesn't take away everything. It had to come from me, too,'' said Joey, who couldn't fall asleep sober when he arrived at the center six months ago. The 18-year-old once faced a second-degree murder charge and a possible stint in youth prison. He'd been in detention twice before on heroin charges and relied on the drug to cope with stress, anger and boredom. ``My body didn't know how to sleep without heroin,'' Joey said, sitting on a concrete ledge in the hall's courtyard of whitewashed walls. About 90 percent of the youths at the Santa Cruz detention center arrive buzzed from drugs or alcohol, anxious and underweight, Finch said. Many experience withdrawal symptoms or have attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder, which makes it difficult to concentrate. Ginger, 17, shied away from acupuncture at first, thinking ``how freaky,'' she said. But she was desperate to fight the heroin cravings and lower back pains that kept her awake. ``It makes the urge go away and you stop thinking about it,'' said Ginger, whose confident smile, black-cherry-dyed ponytail and calm demeanor belie her past trips to detention for assault, battery and drug charges. Not everyone is an instant believer. George, 16, who's been accused of car theft and making terrorist threats, was a reluctant first-time participant. ``This one hurts,'' George said, scrunching up his nose as Cutler inserted the needles. ``I can feel this ear going boom, boom, boom.'' Since the 1970s, the ancient Chinese art of piercing the body with needles has become a popular treatment in more than 700 U.S. drug courts and rehabilitation programs to stem the cravings and pain that accompany withdrawal from narcotics. Preliminary results from an ongoing study of the drug court program in Clark County, Nev., are promising, according to its director, John Marr. In the first six months of 2000, adults and teens assigned to acupuncture by the drug court were more likely to stay in treatment than their peers in non-acupuncture programs. They got straight faster and stayed clean longer, said Marr, whose program is being studied by the Crime and Justice Institute of Temple University. Admittedly, Santa Cruz's juvenile detention program is more relaxed than some of its counterparts in the Bay Area. Students take off from academic classes every Wednesday afternoon for community meetings to discuss everything from gang tension to requests for softer toothbrushes and hair gel from teenage boys who say they need to ``look good'' in court. Warrior yoga, which stresses flexibility and endurance, is offered twice a week for two hours. And chess is in such high demand that the juvenile hall decided to purchase special tables with drawn-on chess boards. Santa Cruz doesn't use taxpayer money to pay for its programming. Instead, profits from vending machines and pay phones cover the $100 a week to teach yoga to about 17 kids and $1,600 for two months of acupuncture treatment. ``We try to make this time worthwhile,'' Finch said. ``A lot of our kids like this better than home. They're clothed and fed, and they don't have that when they leave.'' Putting a bunch of potentially violent teens together with needles may sound reckless. To participate, the juvenile hall requires a parent or guardian signature for anyone younger than age 18. And Cutler and staff members keep a close count of the needles used at each session. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved the acupuncture program without opposition. Even the group that vigorously supported Proposition 21, which made it easier to try minors as adults, was encouraged by Santa Cruz's unique approach. ``If they're in harmony with themselves, then they're probably going to be in harmony with the community when they're released,'' said David LaBahn, deputy executive director of the California District Attorney's Association. ``It sounds perfect, and that's what we all expect from a place like Santa Cruz.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer