Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jul 2006
Source: Signal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2006 The Signal
Contact:  http://www.the-signal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4221
Author: Jessica Marks, Signal Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

MOST TEENS TRY DRUGS, ALCOHOL

Virtually 100 percent of Santa Clarita high school students will experiment 
with drugs or alcohol or both at some point before they graduate, and many 
use in their parents' presence, the president of a local anti-drug council 
said Wednesday.

Alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamines are the most commonly used and 
abused drugs in the Santa Clarita Valley, and in the nation, said Susan 
Shaddock, program director for the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug 
Dependence of the Santa Clarita Valley.

"I continue to be amazed at the number of teen clients (who) use drugs with 
their parents," Shaddock said. "It is way more common than you'd ever believe."

In fact, 63 percent of youth who drink say that they initially tried 
alcohol at their own home or a friend's with parents present, according to 
a recent study published by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

"Check this out," Shaddock said. "If they do it at home, they're that much 
more comfortable doing it elsewhere."

With that in mind, Santa Clarita is in line with the national statistics 
that say 40 percent of those who started drinking at age 13 or younger are 
alcohol dependent later in life, whereas 10 percent of teens who drink 
after the age of 17 developed dependence.

"Any kid you ask (in Santa Clarita) will say, 'everyone's doing it,'" said 
Cary Quashen, founding director of ACTION, a nonprofit organization that 
provides substance abuse and crisis counseling programs for parents and 
teens, .

While more kids are in treatment for marijuana abuse than all other drugs 
combined, more kids lose their lives over alcohol-related incidents, 
including drunken driving and suicide, Quashen said.

And it isn't just low-income or crime-ridden cities that have kids who are 
addicted to alcohol and other drugs, Quashen said.

"That is so far from the case. If you want good drugs, you come to a 
community like this where there is more money and the parents work, so 
they're not around," Quashen said.

Getting alcohol is not hard, either, with most kids and teens stealing it 
from stores or from their parents. They may also stand in front of a 
convenience store and wait for someone old enough to buy it for them, 
Quashen said.

But there is hope, both Shaddock and Quashen agree.

"If someone thinks they have a problem, they probably do. And if you think 
there's a problem with you, see a counselor," Shaddock said.

Both NCADD and ACTION offer counseling groups to those teens needing 
assistance getting off of drugs or alcohol.
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