Teens seek help to battle drugs

CARSON CITY -- Nevada teenagers told legislators Monday that substance abuse problems are rampant among their peers, and any new funding for prevention programs would be money well spent.

"Getting into drugs and alcohol is all there is to do in some places," Dayton High School student Emily Leach, 17, said in urging approval of a measure appropriating $900,000 for community-based programs.

Assembly Bill 121, by Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, would allocate half the money next fiscal year and the balance in the following year.

Leach and other teens told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that statewide prevention and treatment programs, recreations centers and other programs are badly needed.

"When I was 11, I got into drugs and alcohol. My grades were dropping. I had a lot of conflicts at home. I turned to drugs and alcohol," said Leach. "A summer program helped me open my eyes. I had people to talk to."

"I think you should help us out. We need a recreation center or community center, more programs. I see drugs around constantly. Youths need some alternatives."

Leslie said the state general fund now provides only $42,000 a year to substance abuse prevention programming. About $2 million in federal funds support the bulk of programming.

"We need to break the cycle of addiction with kids," added Leslie, estimating that substance abuse costs the state more than $1 billion annually in fatal traffic crashes, other deaths, criminal justice costs and fetal alcohol syndrome births.

Thirteen percent of people over the age of 18 in Nevada -- or more than 200,000 -- has been diagnosed with substance abuse dependency, according to a study by the University of Nevada, Reno.

Other studies show that by the 12th grade, 62 percent of students are drinking alcohol on a regular basis, 44 percent report binge drinking episodes, 28 percent use marijuana and 17 percent combine alcohol or drugs with sexual activity.

Gerald Canning of Reno told panelists his daughter had a substance abuse problem starting at age 11, and now is "clean" after going through drug court, the state's Caliente facility and various programs.

archive