<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Sean Connelly, a student from Archbishop Murphy High School, uses balloons on Feb. 2 at the Lynnwood Convention Center to show how teens have a lot to juggle, including school, family and friends, and methamphetamine makes it impossible. Middle school an?????????????????????????????????????

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Real stories, real victims show teens how drugs are deadly

Teens say drugs are easy to find, widely used by local peers

Eric Berto
Enterprise writer

LYNNWOOD -- The talks, the presentations and the displays all had one mission -- get youth to stay off of meth.

For about 1,100 Snohomish County youth, the fifth annual Snohomish County Youth Meth Summit Thursday, Feb. 2, was a time to learn. They learned the faces of Methamphetamine, which is commonly known as "meth."

They also got to hear how meth can tear families apart.

A group of teenagers spoke about their experiences with the drug.

Those stories and others heard throughout the full-day conference at the Lynnwood Convention Center rang in the heads of some of those in attendance.

"It makes you realize what and who you hang around with," Jackson High sophomore Arianna Whitlow said.

Whitlow and others from her school said they have seen people who have used, dealt or otherwise been affected by meth.

Just how pervasive drugs are into the lives of area teams is exactly why events like the summit exist, Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said.

"It's a huge issue, but I think a lot of people are afraid to admit it is," he said.

During a session with junior high students who were also in attendance, Bart said that at least half of them raised their hands when asked if they had tried drugs.

"If we can get to one kid, that's our goal," Bart said.

The summit also featured informational talks on club drugs and drunk driving.

Jackson High sophomore Paris Johnson said that hearing from a panel of victims on the impact drunk driving has will stick with her.

"To hear a story about how she's a widow at such a young age was really sad and it almost made me cry," Johnson said.

Inside the room, collages of accidents that had claimed the lives of teenagers adorned the walls. One featured pictures of an open-casket funeral.

Lyn Lauzon, the Drug & Alcohol Intervention Specialist at Jackson High School, said that sometimes frank reality is the best way to reach the teens.

"It's almost like you have to shock the kids a little bit," she said.

Bart said he often visits schools and talks with school children about drugs and its effects on their lives.

"When I go to a school, (the students) all start telling me about it, who's using, who's dealing," Bart said. "They're getting used to it, which is sad."

Bart said he is not sure of exact numbers of how many of the area's youth have used the drugs.

According to a survey the Snohomish Health District conducted in 2002, 3.8 percent of youth surveyed reported using meth within the past 30 days.

Marijuana use was more than triple that -- 12.8 percent of those surveyed had used within the past 30 days.

The Sheriff's Office is currently conducting a survey to determine more recent figures.

"I think it's the number one problem in our country right now," Bart said. "I think what we're seeing is a drug that's here to stay. There's way too much money in it."

Bart said his goal of reaching at least one person was achieved this year. He met with a 19-year-old woman who attended one of the first summits. She told him she quit using shortly afterword and turned her life around, he said.