Pubdate: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 Source: Boca Raton News (FL) Copyright: 2006 Boca Raton News Contact: http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src=forms&id=Letter%20to%20the%20Editor Website: http://www.bocaratonnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3191 Author: Nicol Jenkins RETIRED DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENT SPEAKS ABOUT 'TODAY'S CHILD DRUGS OF CHOICE' AT PARENT UNIVERSITY The Average Age Of A First-Time Illegal Drug User Is 12 And A First-Time Alcohol User Is 11 And A Half "Nope. Not my kid. Can't be my kid." This is the universal refrain of denial among many parents when told a child is cheating, drinking, or the most often refuted -- doing drugs. However, experts say otherwise. Most child drug users are not unlike a Boca Raton adolescent -- white, preppy, and suburban, according to Robert Stutman, a retired 25-year special agent once in charge of the New York field division of the US Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration. Stutman said the "junkies" are mostly white adolescents, although most believe African American and Hispanic adolescents are the top users. He said African American parents take a stronger stance against drug use. "They've seen kids die and they tell their kids with the ferocity other parents don't," he said. Drugs Change Stutman spoke to a group of Boca parents Wednesday about the new drugs of choice and the ever-changing drug world - saying perhaps most surprisingly to parents that the average age of a first-time illegal drug user is 12 and a first-time alcohol user is 11 and a half. The event called "Not My Kid" was held by Parent University, a group of local parents who hold seminars on parental topics of concern. Founder Michelle Hershey chose the 'drug' topic because, "an overwhelming amount of parents requested it." "What really are the drug issues today are very different from 10 years ago," Stutman said. "Many of the parents who experimented with drugs in high school and college think they know, but they don't because it changes rapidly." Drugs of Choice The types of drugs are also changing, Stutman said. In Boca Raton, he said, huffing and pharmaceutical drugs are the two drugs of choice. Many kids are huffing by using Pam cooking spray, he said because "it sticks and when you inhale it cuts the flow of oxygen to the brain and kids get a high." "Traditionally kids never used their parents drugs. They wanted to invent their own toys, such as LSD and club drugs. It's a huge change," he said. "And these kids are not using drugs as rebellion as the previous generation. They're using them to change the way they feel." Most common pharmaceutical drugs used are OxyContin, Aderral and Ritalin from the parent's own medicine chests, he said. "OxyContin is like candy, said Stutman. "The kids put it in a Kleenex and crush it or swallow the Kleenex or snort it. It hits them like a freight train.." Aderral and Ritalin, known as "speed" or man-made cocaine causes the teeth to rot and sometimes a "meth face" or the muscles sag," he said. Other Drugs Another drug "back with a vengeance" is LSD. Described as an odorless, tasteless liquid, Stutman said it's being used in plain site on postage stamps and Bayer aspirin. Also unknowingly, kids think they're taking 'shrooms' but it's really a LSD laced-mushroom. Flashbacks are an untreated side effect, which 20 percent of LSD users prone and can last up to 27 years, he said. Club drugs such as Ecstasy, or the "hug" drug; date rape drugs, GHB and "roofies" are other favorites, he said. Ecstasy, a pill form, usually has a peace sign or Snoopy logo and is popular at raves because, "It makes them feel good about themselves. Everybody loves each other," Stutman said. Nightmares are side effects and the baby pacifier is a symbol, many users wear gold-plated pacifier necklaces. GHB, or the binge-drinking drug has effects similar to getting drunk. Roofies or Rohypnol is a date rape drug and comes in a powder form. The victim feels like, "they are in never-never land. They're out of it and will forget everything because the second affect is amnesia." And the last and predicted the most popular is Ketamine, or "Special K", or "Going to the K hole", Stutman said. It provides dissociation with the body or a near-death experience. And it's becoming more difficult to catch kids using and abusing these drugs because, he said, use in Boca occurs at home and behind closed doors. "Parents tend not to see," he said. "And there's no dope peddlers in schools. They get drugs from other kids." Kids are also getting smarter. Many are using alcohol to cover up drug use, he said. "Many parents would be upset if their kids used drugs but many are accepting if their kid has been drinking. They consider drinking a beer as a right of passage in high school," Stutman said. "I know of students using ecstasy all night and then they drink a beer when they get home and mom or dad smells the beer and thinks it's fine." Who are the drug addicts? Junkies are deceiving parents with clothing, he said. "Parents don't think the preppy kids do drugs. They look at the gothic-dressed kids," Stutman said. Causes The single greatest cause is peer pressure. And the only way to combat that is for parents to talk to kids early and schools to begin substance abuse education from kindergarten through grade 12, Stutman believes. "A one hour presentation or a scare tactic doesn't work. You have to teach them the skills and start young," he said. Boca dad Dr. Alan Slootsky said him and his wife already have an open relationship with their 14-year-old daughter. But he did become aware of some new drug issues through Stutman. "I learned that children from nice families in Boca are the target group most likely to abuse drugs because of availability and peer pressure," he said. Stutman ended on that note. "No matter how nice, Catholic, Jewish, how athletic or smart your child is it can happen to them. Drug use is nothing less than a communicable disease," he said. "Keep working on it, and think about it when you think it's not my kid." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman