Pubdate: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 Source: West Hawaii Today (HI) Contact: 2003 West Hawaii Today Website: http://westhawaiitoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644 Author: Karen Iwamoto, West Hawaii Today Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Note: The author is a member of Hamakua Power of Choice; a human service student at Hawaii Community College and a family member and friend of addicts. To read about the "ice epidemic" in Hawaii, go to http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii . SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM TURNS TEENS' LIVES AROUND Editor's note: The names of the teenagers in this article have been changed to protect their identity. Billy is 17, tall and tanned with a friendly smile. On first impression, he seems sociable and easy to talk to. He wasn't always like this. Like other 30 or so teenagers at the Big Island Substance Abuse Council's adolescent program, he is battling drug addiction. Bored with school and life in a rural community, he said he began smoking marijuana and experimenting with ice (crystal methamphetamine) about three years ago. "There's nothing to do in Pahoa," he said. "I have to walk four miles to get to the Wiki Wiki, but it only takes me one mile to get to my dealer." Soon, he had stopped attending school altogether, spending his days getting high - until his school reported his absences to the Big Island Family Court. The court had him undergo a drug assessment and he was consequently ordered to enroll in the BISAC adolescent program for teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. BISAC offers three levels of care, depending on the severity of addiction. Most start out in the intensive outpatient program that meets three times a week to discuss addiction and to participate in excursions and group sessions. Upon completing that level, a teenager graduates to the lower intensity outpatient program that meets twice a week and then to the outpatient program that meets once a week. Once the outpatient program is completed, the teenager attends an aftercare program that meets twice a month. Last year, 54 percent of the teenagers enrolled successfully completed the BISAC program, said BISAC Director of Operations Wesley Margheim. The rest of the teenagers either dropped out of the program or were sent to a higher level of care off - island. Of the 54 percent who completed the program, he said 66 percent remained sober six months afterwards. The rest admitted to using drugs again. At one time, Billy's ice addiction was so serious, he was sent to a residential treatment center on Oahu - there are no adolescent residential treatment centers on the Big Island. While on Oahu, Billy said he broke his hand and wrist while trying to punch through a bullet - proof glass window. He kept beating at the window until he was physically restrained, he said. "There were these voices telling me to break the glass," he said. "I don't know why I thought I could break the window, but I thought I could." The drugs, he said, had made him hallucinate, caused him to believe he could do things that he normally wouldn't have. "You get so caught up in your addiction nothing else matters," he said. "You're willing to do anything for it, overcome any shortcomings. No regrets, you just do it." Billy and 16 other Big Island teenagers gathered on a Wednesday afternoon to discuss their drug addiction at a group session at the BISAC building in Hilo. Most of them - like Billy - were ordered to attend by Big Island Family Court. Had it not been for family court, most would not be there, and most, despite admitting they had used drugs regularly, said they did not believe they needed to be there. (One girl, upon learning that turning 18 may mean a transfer to the adult program instead of an immediate discharge, exclaimed, "What? I thought once you turn 18 you're out of here, they discharge you. I never know we had to go to the adult program." Another girl asked if she could leave early for the day.) "Kids are different from adults," said Norman Yamaoka, administrator of the BISAC adolescent program. "They're still in that stage where they feel invincible. They don't believe in fear. They have nothing to lose. They don't have a house to pay for, a job to lose, that kind of responsibility. "With adults, sometimes they'll seek out treatment because they know if they don't get off the drugs they can lose everything, their job, their house, their family," he added. "They can hit rock bottom. They know they have a choice: Get help or lose everything and possibly end up dying." Children, he said, rarely seek help on their own. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk