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MARSHALL -- How a parent responds to a telephone call from Marshall Police School Liaison Officer Jim Marshall regarding suspected drug use by their teenager is crucial to their child's future.

Although users must decide to quit, law enforcement, social workers, chemical dependency counselors and school officials agree that parents can be the next most important cog in successfully treating and rehabilitating a high school-aged drug user.

"The best success comes when we get the family involved," said Bernie Przymus, a social worker with Lyon Lincoln Health Services.

Marshall High School Principal Wade McKittrick said when parents are informed of a child's suspected drug use, the hope is the contact will save the child from such problems as addiction and run-ins with the law.

Parents who fail to get involved risk losing the child to addiction and worse, officials said.

Loss can start with gateway drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Nine of 10 tobacco users and one of 10 alcohol users become addicted, said Ruth Larson, a counselor for the Life Skills Center in Marshall. Use of gateway drugs can escalate into use of other drugs such as marijuana and methamphetamine.

"A few years ago, I had a client who was 14. This was his fourth time in treatment," said Bob Schmillen, the chemical dependency treatment director for Project Turnabout. "He went to the doc for a check-up when he came in and was told he was on the verge of a heart attack. It scared the kid for two weeks, but it didn't last. Kids don't want to die, but on the other hand, they think they are invincible."

Use of methamphetamine is increasing, and users are getting younger, officials said.

"It's terrible," Schmillen said of the increased use and possible side affects, which include delusions, paranoia and violent behavior.

Przymus said methamphetamine users risk damaging their mental health for life.

There is another danger that is viewed in many communities with more acceptance, officials said.

Marijuana is now a popular drug in high schools, officials said. Schmillen said it's a sign of the view taken by parents and society.

"Parents used to say at least he is drinking alcohol and not doing drugs like pot," Schmillen said. "Nowadays, they say what's wrong with smoking a little bit of pot? It's no big deal."

Many parents smoked or experimented with marijuana when they were in college and high school. But the pot used by today's high school students is different.

Dan Louwagie, coordinator of the Brown, Lyon and Redwood Drug Task Force, said statistics show that in 1974, a single marijuana joint had less than 1 percent THC. Today's joint can have as much as 17 times more THC than those from 1974.

If you start smoking a joint each week at 12, there's a good chance you'll be stuck at 12 for a long time if you keep using, Przymus said.

THC delays maturation and can even stop it. A typical child will progress through puberty and adolescence and develop independence, mature decision making skills, goal setting, ambition and other characteristics of adulthood.

When that 12-year-old marijuana user is still using at 19, he is likely to be living with his parents. His parents will be feeding him and paying for most or all of his expenses.

"I'll see a 19-year-old on the corner with his bike," Przymus said. "I'll ask him, 'So, what have you been doing?' He'll say, 'Hanging out.' I'll ask, 'What do you plan to do next year?' He'll say, 'Just hang around,'" Przymus said.

Officials said marijuana, alcohol and tobacco use all can lead to riskier behavior and also to harder drugs.

"In this community, and a lot of communities, there's an acceptance (of alcohol use)," Marshall High School Assistant Principal Cynthia Celander said. "They say, 'Well, it's just alcohol, they're just drinking.' It's the 'just drinking' part that leads to well then, it's just experimenting with marijuana or meth, and it builds up from there."

Drug use can also lead to crime and sexual activity, officials said.

When Marshall calls parents, he's doing so because he has good reason to suspect drug use.

McKittrick said the school's role is to contact the parents about suspected drug use and to provide parents with information. It's the parent's choice regarding what actions are taken, such as whether a chemical use assessment and/or treatment is sought, McKittrick said.

"What scares me is I'm not getting the references from over there," Przymus said. "I know there are users there."

The responses from parents can vary, Marshall said.

Some parents don't say much. Others won't confront their child because they don't want the conflict. Others believe it's a passing phase and don't worry. Some will try and enroll their child in a treatment program or obtain a chemical use assessment.

Drug use includes tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, Przymus said. For some students, drug use can be experimental and a phase they will move out of. But that doesn't mean parents can simply wait for the phase to pass, he said.

"They need to set boundaries. They need to pester their children," Przymus said.

Parents need to ask questions if they suspect or know of drug use, as well as if their child has completed a treatment program. They need to set curfews and rules and carry out consequences if curfews and rules are broken, officials said.

"If you are a parent that's struggling with your kid, it's hard to ask for help," Celander said. "Where do you go to get (help), when you do (ask)?"

Celander said some parents go to counselors or ministers.

"Parents can ask themselves, is he following rules, is he getting enough sleep, have there been any instances of shoplifting, is he doing chores around the house?" Celander said.

Officials said drug users can come from single parent families, two parent families, and poor, middle income and upper income families.

In terms of prevention, questions and involvement needs to start at birth, Marshall said. Some parents may have been involved, but a need for acceptance by peers, a disaster, family problems and other events can trigger drug use, officials said. Often, counselors and law enforcement see the results when parents don't ask questions and aren't involved in healthy ways. For those who complete treatment, it may not be a good setting to return to.

"Many users start in a dysfunctional home," Marshall Police Et. Paula Curry said. "I see 5- and year olds and know we will be seeing them in the system in a few years because of their home situation."

And, sometimes, Curry sees the parents using with the kids.

"Most of those that we know of are marijuana cases," Curry said.

If parents don't set boundaries and structure for their children, some kids will seek it out through deviant behavior, which can include drug use, Przymus said.

"One thing every human being needs is structure; even if they have to be deviant in behavior to get it, they will," Przymus said. "They will get the structure they need, even if it takes jail."

 

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