4/8/2010 - West Side Leader
     

Copley, Bath parents form support group

GREATER AKRON — Marcie Mason is seeing a trend that disturbs her.

The Copley resident is a licensed social worker who has been a youth worker with the Copley and Bath police departments for 27 years. She said she is seeing a significant increase in the number of young people charged with drug offenses in the two communities.

“In addition, there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of kids who have addictions,” Mason said. “These aren’t kids who are recreationally using. These are kids who are in need of treatment.”

Mason said trends she is seeing mirror those in the nation. According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, teenage drug use is on the upswing after several years of declines.

The 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study showed that during a one-year period, the number of teens in ninth through 12th grades who used alcohol in a one-month period grew 11 percent, and those reporting marijuana use grew 19 percent.

Marijuana use is Mason’s main concern, but she has worked with teens who use other illegal drugs, as well as prescription drugs they get from home or friends.

“It’s not just the burnouts anymore,” Mason said. “It’s kids from all socioeconomic ranges. It’s kids that are athletes, it’s kids that are good students; kids from nice homes. They are church youth group members.”

She’s seen a mix of attitudes from parents, she added.

“What’s sad is often their parents are clueless,” Mason said. “Maybe they thought their kid was using and didn’t realize how serious it was.”

Teens with drug problems often come to the attention of authorities through drug possession and drug paraphernalia charges as well as theft offenses, Mason said.

“As we work with them in diversion, it’s revealed that they are using,” she said. “We drug test everyone we see.”

Mason reported it’s typical that she knows of one youth in the area at a time in an intense drug treatment program. But in recent months, there were four teenage males that she had worked with who were being treated for addiction problems.

“We usually have two a year,” Mason said.

Some parents of youths who have undergone treatment recently were willing to be interviewed by the West Side Leader if they could remain anonymous. Their stories illustrate how a child’s drug problems can affect an entire family.

One Bath mother said her son began using marijuana at the age of 12 when in middle school. By the time he was 16, he was using other drugs and was a daily user of marijuana.

After the teen got caught with marijuana at school, the family tried a number of avenues to deal with his problem, his mother said.

“We had a counselor come to the home two or three times a week,” the woman said. “We didn’t do very well with that one. He needed more attention.”

That teen, like many Mason has worked with, eventually headed to New Directions, a Cleveland residential treatment center.

“He did pretty well,” the mother said. “He stabilized and got sober for a few months. He was released and had another few weeks of outpatient services and he graduated from New Directions just before school started.”

The problem then was putting the youth back into his old surroundings.

“All of his friends use,” said the mother, who estimates that 95 percent of teens in her community use drugs. “I believe there are kids who are going to be fine who are going to use on the weekends, but there’s another group that I believe will become adult addicts and alcoholics, who as teenagers just can’t handle it. That’s what happened with him.”

A Copley father whose son also has had drug problems said his son went through dramatic personality changes after he became a regular marijuana user.

“He had been an honor student and very involved in school and friends, an all-around outgoing kid,” the father said. “It totally has taken him off the rails. He’s failing school. He probably won’t pass his junior year.”

The youth has since been in outpatient and residential treatment programs for drug use as well as depression.

It’s been an eye-opening experience for this father.

“The more we got into the effects of it and the availability of it, it was just on every street corner here, and we live in one of the newer developments of Copley,” the father said. “Within 500 feet of our house, there are three or four kids he could get it from. That’s not a reflection on where we live, but a reflection on society and the ease of availability of it everywhere.”

Mason said those who think drugs aren’t readily available in suburban communities are mistaken.

“They may not be going to the dealer in Akron, but a friend may be going to the dealer in Akron,” Mason said. “They share. Kids are very generous with their drugs. Maybe it attracts other kids to them.”

The Copley father said he agrees that drug use is widespread in suburban communities.

“It cuts a wide path, and most of the parents of the kids involved in this are either in outright denial or just don’t believe it’s going to happen in their house, or they know about it and they condone it. We’ve heard many parents say their kids just don’t get caught.”

The parents said getting a child help also can be a financial strain, even with health insurance.

The Copley father said his health insurance company paid for an initial assessment for his son, which recommended he be placed in a residential treatment program, but then the insurance company would not pay for any of the treatment.

“Over the last year-and-a-half, we’ve probably spent $25,000,” the father said. “I know parents who’ve paid $100,000.”

“Financially it’s been tough,” the Bath mother said. “I’ve got good insurance, and it covers quite a bit of it, but it doesn’t cover everything. I’ve put out close to $10,000 trying to help my son because he got into legal issues as well.”

Both parents interviewed said the effects of a child’s drug use are stressful for everyone in the household.

“I’ve learned it’s not the kid — it’s the whole family,” the Bath mother said. “It affects everybody. I’ve watched how his relationship with his sibling has deteriorated and when he gets sober it comes back. It’s very stressful.”

“It initially produces some guilt as to what we should have done differently and then you get past that and realize how it has impacted your life and how much time you have spent,” said the Copley father. “You see how much stress it can put on a marriage if you’re not on the same page, and how it can cause frustration and even grief as you feel yourself having to detach from the behavior of this person. You never stop loving them, but sometimes you have to step back and realize the decisions they are making, you can’t make them for them. They have to make them.”

Mason said there are resources available for parents, such as support groups Families Anonymous and Al-Anon.

Recently the Bath mother and Copley father helped start a group for parents that meets Sundays at 6 p.m. at the Stony Hill Fire Station, located at 4570 Medina Road in Copley. They hope the group, which is affiliated with Families Anonymous, will help support parents struggling with a child’s addictive behaviors.

“Our children are all going through programs, so it’s helpful to understand what they’re going through,” the Bath mother said. “It helps us to understand their diseases, but also helps us to understand that we need to take care of all of us.”

“It’s not just about the kids, because they have their own resources,” the Copley father said. “It’s about getting support as a parent to get your life back because part of your life is going to be taken away [because of] this. You will lose free time; you will lose some sleep. And there can be some legal implications. You can lose everything.”

Anyone is welcome to attend the group meeting, the parents said.

In addition, community groups are responding to the issue with local informational programs. On April 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Revere Community C.A.R.E. will host “Addictive Behaviors in Young People: Recognize the Signs and Get the Tools to Take Action,” a free, informative presentation by Jennifer Clegg, an addiction/prevention specialist with Recovery Resources. The program will take place in the Revere High School library, 3420 Everett Road in Richfield.

Meanwhile, both parents interviewed said they have hope their children will eventually overcome their addiction problems.

“Our hope is that there will come a time that he doesn’t need it or desire it,” said the Copley father.

“My hopes are that he can control this and he’s going to be able to go to college,” said the Bath mother. “There’s a huge intelligence about him that if we can overcome this, he can do some good in the world. So I hope he can. I hope he can have a rewarding life as a adult.”

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