Programs help teens to reject drug use.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

A generation ago, students filed into high school auditoriums, sat in semi-darkness and, to the whir of reel-to-reel movie projectors, watched films showing bloody car wrecks caused by teenage drunken drivers.

Later, as the health risks of nicotine became apparent, prevention efforts added videos of smoke-blackened lung X-rays and cautionary tales of people with tongues or jaws eaten away by cancer after years of chewing tobacco.

Now, anti-drug education also addresses the perils of illegal drug use, in an effort to persuade teens and preteens of the dangers of putting these potentially lethal substances into their bodies.

State law requires schools at every grade level to include instruction on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drug use, says Nancy Johnson, coordinator of the Eugene School District's Safe and Drug Free Schools program, funded primarily by the federal government.

Many school districts - including Eugene's and Springfield's - play down scare tactics in favor of "teaching students the skills they need to make good decisions," Johnson said. "They learn about peer pressure, problem-solving, where to turn for help and how to be assertive so they feel comfortable making good decisions."

Kathryn Henderson and Mary Jean Knoll, prevention specialists with the Lane Education Service District, say one federally funded prevention program in particular seems to be getting good grades from the handful of middle schools throughout the county that have begun using it.

Unlike most anti-drug programs, parents as well as children must participate in the Families and Schools Together, or FAST, program. So far, Henderson said, it's been a popular approach in the five Lane County middle schools that participate: Fern Ridge in Veneta, Westridge in Oakridge, Lincoln in Cottage Grove, McKenzie in Blue River and Hamlin in Springfield.

Participation varies by school "and it's all voluntary, but generally we have 10 or 12 families, and once more people hear about it, more want to be involved the next time," Knoll said.

Henderson said she's excited about the program because it emphasizes "supporting parents and coaching parents to be part of what's happening, and the approach seems to be working.

"I have to say, when we first started this, we realized that it might just fall flat," Henderson said. "But the parents come - and sometimes it's the kids that get them to come - and they really get hooked."

FAST pays the cost of a weekly dinner, prepared by one family and served to the entire group during each 2 1/2 -hour session. After the meal, the families have discussions, participate in activities, such as creating a family flag, and spend one-on-one time with their children, learning and practicing good communication skills.

Other schools use other federally funded programs, such as Project Alert, which focuses on teaching students the effects of substance abuse as well as critical thinking, problem solving and assertiveness skills aimed at giving children the confidence to reject the drug.

A few school districts, including Springfield, still use DARE - the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program usually funded jointly by school districts and police departments - but it has been discontinued in many places because of national research that shows questionable results once students exit the program. The Springfield School Board has indicated that it may cut off funding for DARE when the school year ends in June.

"We get effectiveness information through studies by federal government agencies, and funding only continues to support programs that show evidence of success," Henderson said. "But most programs have not been evaluated for their long-term effects - just for what happens a year or so after the students finish."

Nonetheless, the FAST program "is getting strong positive results," she said. "It puts a safety net around the kids, and it puts a safety net around the families."

For most students, admonitions against drug use within their families and schools are a sufficient deterrent to keep them from turning to drug use.

But meth can appeal to troubled kids who believe they have nowhere to turn, says Eric Van Houten, a program director with New Roads, which works with homeless young people ages 16 to 21.

Meth gives a "highly pleasurable numbing-out" that appeals to youths in bad situations, Van Houten says. "They stay in the thrill of the moment, so they don't have to think about what their lives are really like."

Because of meth's easy availability, low cost and manic highs, users can remain awake for days, making the need to find shelter less critical.

"They can stay up all night if they use - they don't need to sleep, so they don't have to have a place to crash," Van Houten said. That means less likelihood of being pressured to trade sex or become a drug courier in exchange for a place to stay.

Eventually, though, the lifestyle disintegrates into poor health, rotten teeth, hallucinations, criminal behavior and abuse from fellow users or older predators.

Even so, some people have trouble giving up the drug, which distorts the critical thinking needed to break free of meth, Phipps says.

"It often doesn't happen until they get arrested or for some other reason can't get the drug," Phipps said. "If we knew what the recipe was, it would be awesome."

In Lane County, hundreds each year end up in intervention programs run by Looking Glass Youth & Family Services, using methods that have evolved through the agency's more than 25 years of working with troubled youths.

"We use a `harm reduction model,' not necessarily expecting abstinence from these young people," says Galen Phipps, director of Looking Glass' Station 7 program for younger teens who have become homeless or temporarily estranged from their families.

"We meet kids where they are, we accept their use, and we remain open to them, hoping they will come to us as a resource," Phipps says.

Still, the clients need to conclude for themselves that they must curtail their drug use in order to improve their lives, Phipps says. "But if we started immediately with the idea of abstinence, we would lose them."

Linda Willow, a substance abuse specialist with Safe & Sound, a program supported by grants and closely allied with agencies such as Looking Glass, "absolutely believes" that even longtime meth users can overcome their addiction and return to productive life.

"But every time people use meth, they're doing damage," she says. "It's such a toxic substance that nobody can expect to be back to normal in a short time."

She encourages people to take a selfish view of the drug issue, if it makes them want to support prevention, treatment and criminal justice programs aimed at halting the epidemic.

"I would advise people to think about how much they value their cars, their houses and their personal items," she said. "People are out there all the time, stealing to support their habit. I've had my own car broken into twice in the past year. I hate to use scare tactics, but if it takes a selfish reason to be interested in this issue, there's one."

TIPS FOR TEENS: THE TRUTH ABOUT METH

Slang terms for meth - speed, crystal, crank, tweak, go-fast, ice, glass, uppers, black beauties

Meth affects your brain: In the short term, meth causes mind and mood changes such as anxiety, euphoria and depression. Long-term effects can include chronic fatigue, paranoid or delusional thinking and permanent psychological damage.

Meth affects your body: Over "amping" on any type of speed is pretty risky. Creating a false sense of energy, these drugs push the body faster and farther than it's meant to go. It increases the heart rate, blood pressure and risk of stroke.

Meth affects your self-control: It's a powerfully addictive drug that can cause aggression and violent or psychotic behavior.

Meth is not what it seems: Even speed drugs are not always safe. Strong jolts of caffeine or ephedrine can cause a stroke or cardiac arrest when overused or used by people with a sensitivity to them.

Meth can kill you: An overdose of meth can cause heart failure. Long-term physical effects such as liver, kidney and lung damage also may kill you.

Know the signs of meth use:

Inability to sleep

Increased sensitivity to noise

Nervous physical "tics" such as scratching or picking at skin

Irritability, dizziness or confusion

Extreme anorexia

Tremors or even convulsions 

Increased heart rate or blood pressure

Items useful for inhaling, such as razor blades, mirrors and straws

Injecting paraphernalia such as syringes, heated spoons or surgical tubing

- Source: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration