Youth substance abuse discussed at Cape Girardeau town hall meeting

Educating the public, especially parents, may be a key component in reducing alcohol and tobacco use among young people, members of the Southeast Missouri Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition said Monday.

The group discussed the results of a survey at a town-hall meeting at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The survey, distributed from May to September, discloses where youth, ages 12 to 20, in Cape Girardeau County, commonly access alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco. A total of 737 young people responded to the questionnaire.

Sharing the results with a group of community members, LeAnn Kuhlmann, an intern with the Community Caring Council, said more than half of the teenagers who admitted to using alcohol and tobacco in the last 30 days got the substances from a family member or a different adult. Thirty-one percent of teens who used tobacco received it from their peers, and 37 percent of teens drinking alcohol also got it from their friends.

"If I can speculate, some adults think it's safer to provide alcohol to youth in their own home," said Shelly Wood, program coordinator for the coalition. "Not only is it illegal, but drinking has serious health implications for youth."

Wood, sharing nationwide statistics, said youths who begin drinking at age 13 are 45 percent more likely to become dependent on alcohol. Of the adults who begin drinking at the legal age of 21, just 7 percent are likely to become addicted to alcohol.

Youth who attempted to purchase tobacco at Cape Girardeau convenience stores were six times more likely to be successful than those who tried to purchase alcohol, Kuhlmann said.

The percentages of teens accessing substances from their peers or youth dealers increased when the survey question mentioned prescription drugs and marijuana. Thirty percent of the respondents who had used marijuana got it from a youth dealer and 23 percent of youths using prescription drugs bought the substance from their friends.

Kuhlmann said that although the percentage of teens using prescription drugs may appear low, rates have been on the rise nationally, especially among people ages 12 to 14.

Caring council coordinator Kay Azuma said now they'll begin to develop strategies on how to best use the data.

"We hope if we gave this survey in three years we'd find different use patterns in the county," she said.

The coalition will hold additional discussions on the results today at the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria, Nov. 23 at the Delta High School cafeteria and Nov. 30 at the Jackson Middle School library. All the meetings will be at 6 p.m.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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