Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Ann E. Marimow

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT HELPS TEENS IN TROUBLE

Youths Seem Calmer Since Acupuncture Began At Juvenile Hall

Santa Cruz County began offering acupuncture in July.

Some teenagers with substance abuse problems credit the county's 
programs with helping their bodies cope with sobriety.

One by one, dozens of hair-thin, copper-colored needles are expertly 
angled into ears, scalps, hands and necks. Lights are dimmed, 
curtains drawn and the breathy voice of Enigma fills the room.

Sound like a trendy acupuncture clinic for the Silicon Valley stressed-out set?

It's actually Santa Cruz County's answer to helping troubled teens 
charged with everything from arson to carjacking to drug abuse.

At a time when the criminal justice system wants to treat teens like 
adults, Santa Cruz County has become the first in the country to 
treat them to acupuncture -- not to mention yoga, poetry and 
contemplative community meetings.

Juvenile halls in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have long taught 
teens hip-hop and swing dancing. And Contra Costa County offers art 
and pet therapy. But Santa Cruz is unique in offering acupuncture to 
juveniles, ages 12 to 18, in custody.

It's too early to tell whether the program is helping teens deal with 
drug addiction, hyperactivity and anger, but staff members say the 
youths are calmer and less likely to act out since acupuncture was 
introduced in July. They are more focused in the classroom and 
sleeping better at night, said Michelle Finch, the hall's director.

``At first they go in as a goof, as a social club,'' staff member 
Fernando Vegas said. ``Then they get results and it surprises them; 
it surprises me. They mellow out and open their minds.''

Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, one of the hall's classrooms is 
transformed into an acupuncture clinic for an hour. Desks are dragged 
to the corners of the room and extra chairs serve as foot rests.

Acupuncturist Nikki Cutler, who typically treats groups of about 
eight, arrives armed with cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, relaxing 
music and packs of sterile needles.

Pricking various points on the ears, hands, neck and scalp stimulates 
the secretion of natural mood elevators like endorphins, Cutler said.

``I'm not going to fix all their health problems,'' she said, as the 
teenagers swabbed their ears with alcohol. ``But when they're here, 
they can relax and know what it's like to feel good without drugs.''

For participants like Joey, the 10 tiny needles placed with precision 
in the peaks and valleys of his ears didn't provide instant relief. A 
month of treatment, he said, combined with yoga and Narcotics 
Anonymous meetings, eventually helped him relax and sleep without 
heroin.

``It doesn't take away everything. It had to come from me, too,'' 
said Joey, who couldn't fall asleep sober when he arrived at the 
center six months ago.

The 18-year-old once faced a second-degree murder charge and a 
possible stint in youth prison. He'd been in detention twice before 
on heroin charges and relied on the drug to cope with stress, anger 
and boredom.

``My body didn't know how to sleep without heroin,'' Joey said, 
sitting on a concrete ledge in the hall's courtyard of whitewashed 
walls.

About 90 percent of the youths at the Santa Cruz detention center 
arrive buzzed from drugs or alcohol, anxious and underweight, Finch 
said. Many experience withdrawal symptoms or have attention-deficit 
(hyperactivity) disorder, which makes it difficult to concentrate.

Ginger, 17, shied away from acupuncture at first, thinking ``how 
freaky,'' she said. But she was desperate to fight the heroin 
cravings and lower back pains that kept her awake.

``It makes the urge go away and you stop thinking about it,'' said 
Ginger, whose confident smile, black-cherry-dyed ponytail and calm 
demeanor belie her past trips to detention for assault, battery and 
drug charges.

Not everyone is an instant believer. George, 16, who's been accused 
of car theft and making terrorist threats, was a reluctant first-time 
participant.

``This one hurts,'' George said, scrunching up his nose as Cutler 
inserted the needles. ``I can feel this ear going boom, boom, boom.''

Since the 1970s, the ancient Chinese art of piercing the body with 
needles has become a popular treatment in more than 700 U.S. drug 
courts and rehabilitation programs to stem the cravings and pain that 
accompany withdrawal from narcotics.

Preliminary results from an ongoing study of the drug court program 
in Clark County, Nev., are promising, according to its director, John 
Marr. In the first six months of 2000, adults and teens assigned to 
acupuncture by the drug court were more likely to stay in treatment 
than their peers in non-acupuncture programs. They got straight 
faster and stayed clean longer, said Marr, whose program is being 
studied by the Crime and Justice Institute of Temple University.

Admittedly, Santa Cruz's juvenile detention program is more relaxed 
than some of its counterparts in the Bay Area. Students take off from 
academic classes every Wednesday afternoon for community meetings to 
discuss everything from gang tension to requests for softer 
toothbrushes and hair gel from teenage boys who say they need to 
``look good'' in court.

Warrior yoga, which stresses flexibility and endurance, is offered 
twice a week for two hours. And chess is in such high demand that the 
juvenile hall decided to purchase special tables with drawn-on chess 
boards.

Santa Cruz doesn't use taxpayer money to pay for its programming. 
Instead, profits from vending machines and pay phones cover the $100 
a week to teach yoga to about 17 kids and $1,600 for two months of 
acupuncture treatment.

``We try to make this time worthwhile,'' Finch said. ``A lot of our 
kids like this better than home. They're clothed and fed, and they 
don't have that when they leave.''

Putting a bunch of potentially violent teens together with needles 
may sound reckless. To participate, the juvenile hall requires a 
parent or guardian signature for anyone younger than age 18. And 
Cutler and staff members keep a close count of the needles used at 
each session.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved the acupuncture 
program without opposition. Even the group that vigorously supported 
Proposition 21, which made it easier to try minors as adults, was 
encouraged by Santa Cruz's unique approach.

``If they're in harmony with themselves, then they're probably going 
to be in harmony with the community when they're released,'' said 
David LaBahn, deputy executive director of the California District 
Attorney's Association. ``It sounds perfect, and that's what we all 
expect from a place like Santa Cruz.''
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