REGION: Drug use down among arrested teens, report shows

By COLLEEN MENSCHING - Staff Writer | Monday, June 2, 2008 6:04 PM PDT ∞

Marijuana and methamphetamine use were at an eight-year low among juvenile arrestees surveyed in 2007, part of an overall decline in drug use among juvenile hall inmates during the same period, according to a report released Monday by the San Diego Association of Governments.

Researchers surveyed 177 juveniles, ages 12 to 18, who were in custody during two separate months in 2007, the report said. Most were boys, and most were arrested for something other than a drug offense.

The number of kids who tested positive for drug use dropped to 46 percent from 53 percent in 2006, the report said.

In addition to marijuana and meth testing, researchers screened samples for cocaine, opiates and the psychotropic drug known as PCP.

Forty percent of kids tested positive for marijuana, which was the most commonly used drug, the study said. That number was down from 43 percent in 2006.

Approximately 8 percent ---- or 14 kids ---- tested positive for meth in 2007, according to the report. Just two years prior, a record 21 percent of kids tested were using meth, according to SANDAG's 2005 study.

"It (the 2007 statistic) is one of the lowest we've seen," said Cynthia Burke, director of the association's criminal justice research division.

Burke said the decline may be due to congressional efforts to control the materials used in making meth, including over-the-counter drugs, and efforts to limit meth imported from Mexico.

For the first time since SANDAG started collecting drug use information from arrestees in 1987, juveniles also were asked about abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications.

More than one in three surveyed had abused drugs such as pain-killers, antidepressants, tranquilizers and cold medicines, the report said.

"What was surprising for me about this sample was they weren't using these prescription drugs instead of other drugs ---- they were using them in combination," Burke said.

Burke said she was also surprised at how kids rated the dangers of certain drugs.

Kids considered tobacco, alcohol and marijuana ---- called "gateway drugs" because experts believe using them can lead to use of harder drugs ---- the least dangerous of all drugs. The twist, Burke said, was that they considered tobacco the most dangerous gateway drug.

"They think that marijuana is less harmful than cigarettes," Burke said.

Chuck Williams of Mental Health Systems Youth Recovery Center in San Marcos said some of the findings of the study are reflected in the center's clientele, mostly teens 13 to 17 years old.

"I think that some of the hard drug use has lessened, and most of our admits are for marijuana and alcohol," Williams said.

Williams said that, in part, he credits media coverage of meth with creating social pressure to avoid the drug.

"Meth is kind of like what heroin was back in the day ---- you're persona non grata," he said. "It's really looked down upon."

But for his center's clients, anti-drug messages may not resonate as strongly.

"I think that kids experiment and that some go on to abuse and addiction," he said.

The SANDAG survey showed that youths who tried gateway drugs such as alcohol, tobacco or marijuana typically used more than one of the three and that the average age that kids start using gateway drugs is 12.

Additionally, many of the youths reported dealing with other problems in their lives, such as running away, truancy, gang affiliation ---- at 54 percent ---- as well as having parents with histories of substance use.

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.

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