Despite a recent survey ranking Utah teens below the national average for drug use, a local addiction rehabilitation center advocates prevention and drug awareness.

"The most important thing we can do as a community to prevent drug problems is to become aware that every teen is at risk," said Sharon Kay, executive director of The Gathering Place, an addiction treatment center. "Denial is the number one barrier to effective drug prevention."

National statistics show 80 percent of teens will try some type of illegal substance from the age of 13 to 19 and 50 percent of teens have used drugs or alcohol this month.

The 2003 Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention Survey concluded that less than 25 percent of Utah teens fell into the category of a drug, alcohol or cigarette user, making them about half as likely as teens nationally.

Statistics show drug use in Utah County is less, but Kay said it is still significant because of a lack of awareness.

"Parents are often unaware of the problem, and do not believe that drug use could be an issue for their child," Kay said. "A study of ecstasy use, for example, found that 16 percent of kids had tried ecstasy, whereas only 1 percent of parents believed their teen might have tried it."

The recent study showed Utah teens to rank higher than the national average for inhalant use.

"One of the causes of this problem is that parents don't realize that inhalants, usually common household items such as whipping cream, can be used as a drug," Kay said. "Most kids use inhalants innocently thinking this is a fun activity similar to sniffing helium and talking funny."

Inhalant use includes inhaling or "huffing" chemicals such as glue, gasoline and aerosols to get high.

Inhalants can impose the most immediate and dangerous health risks. Inhaling fumes from chemicals for a high can cause permanent brain cell loss and sometimes death, Kay said.

"Inhalants are used primarily by pre-teens or kids in their early teens, prior to the age when most teens become involved in drugs like marijuana, alcohol and other serious drugs, so talking to kids about inhalants needs to start young," Kay said.

Kay concluded if parents were more informed and talked about inhalants with their children in addition to regular drug-education lessons, the problem would "dramatically decrease." She said this was mainly an issue of lack of education by the parents.

A study conducted by Bach Harrison, a Salt Lake City firm, stated that when parents told their children drug use was "very wrong," and absolutely not permitted by anyone in the household, children were only a fraction as likely to experiment with drugs as compared to children with more lenient parents.

Researchers conducting the study found religion and strong family attachments to be the best "anti-drugs." The study concluded that Utah teens were less likely than teens nationally to experiment with drug use if these values were prominent.

The Gathering Place uses a similar technique as their focus in treating those with addictions.

"The agency uses the power of gathering to lead to recovery," said Ruth Busbee, outreach coordinator. "The power of gathering includes the power of expert staff, individual attention, group therapy, family support and community resources."

The Gathering Place, Utah Valley's oldest abuse treatment agency, is a non-profit organization that serves nearly 1,000 people a year, providing programs for adults, teens, children and expectant mothers.

"The agency also has an outreach program where we provide educational presentations to the community in an effort to prevent addiction," Kay said. "Staff at the agency does four or more presentations each month to different organizations such as churches, PTA, business organizations, and even training for judges."

The center provides information and help to families and the community.

"Teens are at an age where they are curious about life, feel immortal and are very vulnerable to peer pressure," Kay said. "Drugs are also readily available, even very serious drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines can be accessed fairly easily."

At the center, drug treatment for teens includes two programs. The general program meets two nights a week, and the intensive program meets three nights a week. Both programs include individual, group and family therapy, intensive recreation therapy and educational groups.

"Our staff are experts in the field of addiction and are able to provide effective treatment for both the teen and the family," Kay said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 27 Oct 2003