Officials want boost in drug prevention, treatment for youth
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The state needs to increase prevention and treatment services for young people despite indications that the use of crystal methamphetamine and other drugs among Hawai'i students has fallen, state officials and others told a legislative panel yesterday.
The number of adolescents admitted into publicly financed treatment for crystal methamphetamine abuse has dropped since 1998, said Elaine Wilson, chief of the Department of Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division. Admissions dropped to 158 last year compared with 189 in 1998, she said.
Wilson was among the speakers at a hearing before the Joint House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement, which was created to help lawmakers address the state's ice crisis. The panel is holding a series of hearings on the various issues associated with ice use.
In addition to the statistics on treatment among young people, Wilson also cited information previously released in the department's 2002 survey of 28,000 public and private school students that showed a decrease in drug use, except for use of the illegal club drug Ecstasy.
According to the survey, 1.8 percent of seniors who participated said they used ice within the past 30 days, compared with 5.5 percent in 1989. The study determined that about 11,000 students in grades six through 12 need substance-abuse treatment, down from an estimated 16,800 students in 1998.
Wilson noted that young people who are heavy drug users are probably no longer in school and are not reflected in the survey, but that the survey found that many students consider ice to be dangerous.
"So I think to some degree, we've done a good job of educating youth on the fact that it is a harmful drug," she said.
The numbers also could reflect the effectiveness of treating students early for use of other drugs, such as alcohol or marijuana, she said.
The pattern of decrease among adolescents appears to be a departure from ice use among adults. Adults admitted to publicly financed treatment for crystal methamphetamine have nearly doubled from 1,423 in 1998 to 2,730 last year.
Crystal methamphetamine use has become one of the top issues among law enforcement officials and politicians in recent months, and many have organized sign-waving events and community meetings on how to deal with the problem.
It is unclear how many people in Hawai'i are abusing crystal methamphetamine. Many officials and advocates say more effort should be spent dealing with the problem rather than arguing over numbers.
Wilson yesterday said the state only has enough money to provide treatment to about 1,500 students. She also said there is no state money for substance-abuse prevention, and that the state is instead using limited federal grant money for prevention programs.
Wilson said the state should increase services for middle-school students because the biggest jump in drug use is between the 6th and 8th grades. Of the 57 public middle schools, three have state-financed treatment programs.
Sylvia Yuen, director of the University of Hawai'i Center on the Family, said various factors in the community and at home increase the risk of drug use in young people. She said healthy beliefs and clear standards in the community, school and family are important, and that children should have nurturing relationships with parents, relatives, teachers, or others in the community.
Yuen also stressed the significance of helping children find things that they do well and of helping them develop skills to build their self-esteem.
When parents and the community provide these things, more children will have healthy behaviors and fewer will turn to drugs, Yuen said.
"There really is no one magic bullet," Yuen said. "And maybe it has to be a multifaceted approach."
Wilson said the top substance of choice among young people is alcohol, and that part of the problem is that parents don't consider minors' drinking alcohol to be dangerous.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
