Alcoholics Anonymous Reviews

He says he drank his first alcohol at 14, and it made him feel "good and kind of dizzy." He's 16 now and lives in a Wichita suburb. Until recently, he said, he drank at teen parties nearly every weekend -- six to seven beers each time.

His mother put him in treatment after she found marijuana in his car.

"I'm the dumbest person, I guess," she said, for not detecting his problem earlier. "I'm not dumb anymore."

Their experience is part of a continuing problem of underage drinking.

About 48 percent of Kansas high school students say they have had a drink in the past 30 days, compared with 40 percent nationally, according to a report by the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

The numbers are based on a statewide survey of students.

There has been some good news: Surveys also indicated slightly declining rates of drinking by the state's high school students from 2001 to 2005, although officials note the decline has been small. Some treatment experts said they suspect that part of the decline in alcohol use is due to use of illegal drugs instead.

In 2005, about 55 percent of the state's high school seniors reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, according to SRS. About 35 percent of seniors reported binge drinking -- having five or more drinks in a row at least once within the previous two weeks.

"Perhaps of even more concern is the fact that nearly one in 10 youth in sixth grade report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days," said the report, based on a survey.

SRS has started a program to combat underage drinking in 14 counties, including Sumner, Reno, Harper and Kingman counties in south-central Kansas.

"I think we get complacent until something really bad happens," said Tom Buell, addiction services director for DCCCA Inc., one the largest nonprofit social-service agencies in the state.

Early on the morning of Aug. 16, a 15-year-old Derby girl suffered critical injuries when a car struck her as a drinking party broke up following a fight, Sedgwick County sheriff's officials say. About 50 people, ages 15 to 20, were at the party on South 116th Street East, in southeastern Sedgwick County. Detectives are continuing to investigate.

National, local issue

Underage drinking has become a national issue as well, with a debate over whether the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. Some university presidents contend that lowering the age would reduce binge drinking.

And with school starting, teens are holding more parties, police say.

Parents are a big part of the problem because they often support drinking parties, under a misguided belief that teens are safer if they drink at someone's home, Wichita police and treatment officials say.

Meanwhile, two state-supported Wichita residential treatment facilities for adolescents -- which had a total of 31 beds -- have closed in the past year. So now the closest residential treatment facility is in the Kansas City area. The situation moves adolescents away from their families and makes it difficult for parents to be involved in their children's treatment, officials say.

Teens "should be considered a priority for treatment access in Kansas, and they are not treated as a priority," said Harold Casey, head of the Substance Abuse Center of Kansas, a nonprofit treatment, assessment and referral agency in Wichita. The federal government sets the priorities for the states, Casey said.

'A challenge for me'

Until he was caught with cocaine and began attending outpatient treatment, a Wichita 16-year-old says he drank six to nine beers every weekend at parties.

At the time, he said, he approached drinking as "something you had to do" at a party.

"You just can't be the only sober one," said the teen, after a recent treatment session attended by his mother.

To protect their anonymity as they recover, The Eagle is not naming teens interviewed for this article.

When the 16-year-old drank, he lost his inhibitions. It was the only way he would dance. "If I didn't drink," he said, "I'd be embarrassed."

But he never drank and drove, he said. "It was just something I knew I couldn't do." His sober sister was his driver.

Nationwide, alcohol-related traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teens and young adults, the SRS report said.

The 16-year-old said he used cocaine so he could drink more and stay awake longer.

Still, he said he doesn't consider himself an alcoholic. He said he has been to two parties and stayed sober.

"And it's not bad. I just tell them I don't want to drink. I tell them I'm in treatment, and they understand."

He's getting more sleep and trying to improve his grades so he can graduate "because people in my family think I can't do it. So it's a challenge for me."

The 16-year-old is Hispanic. That is relevant, the SRS report said, noting that Hispanic students and white students reported a higher prevalence of alcohol consumption.

'It's still not safe'

It seems that more parents are allowing teens and their friends to drink at home as long as they don't drive, says Buell, addiction services director with DCCCA.

But it's still harmful and irresponsible, he said.

"The bottom line is you never know which one of those kids will take that first drink and immediately" be at risk of alcoholism because they are genetically predisposed, he said.

Pam McLucas, a drug and alcohol counselor at Wichita Children's Home, said, "I've heard a lot kids say that, 'My parents don't care if I drink at home. They'd rather me drink at home, in front of them.' "

But it ends up encouraging teens to drink elsewhere as well, she said.

Officer Michael Lloyd, who coordinates the Wichita Police Department's efforts against underage drinking, said if police break up a party, "if there's 20 kids, at least four of those parents will say, 'Well, at least they're not out running around.'

"I just tell them honestly, 'It still doesn't make it right; it's still not safe.'

"We've even had them at hotels where parents are renting the rooms for them," Lloyd said.

Part of problem, he said, is "the parent, they want to be their best friend."

But it can get the parent prosecuted. A law that many parents don't know about makes it a misdemeanor to host an underage party where alcohol is consumed, he said.

'Here, have a drink'

About 85 percent of the children coming to the Children's Home are from families with a substance abuse history, said McLucas, the counselor.

"I say this over and over again: 'Be what you want your kids to be,' " she said. "That may be giving up drinking, even socially. People who go to a party, and they have a few drinks, and then they get in a car and go home. But they're telling their kids not to do that."

Most of the time, she said, "kids will follow their parents' lead."

A 21-year-old Wichita man, now in treatment, says he got his first drink when he was 15, in another state.

He says his mother said, "Here, have a drink," and handed him a bottle with a mixture of vodka and Sprite.

"She was partying, her and my dad."

Growing up, he said, "everybody around me drank."

By 16, he was sneaking into his parents' room to get their alcohol.

"I was drinking like a 30- pack a day when I was 17," he said, although he considered marijuana his main problem because he spent most of his money on it.

After a few years in Wichita, his problems mounted.

"I got drunk and did something stupid" -- breaking into a home. He said he has been convicted of weapon possession and burglary.

"I wouldn't do that if I wasn't drunk," he said.

He said he has been sober about four months.

"I found God, so all I do is pray," he said.

He knows he will go to prison for 34 months if gets in trouble again. All it would take is testing positive for alcohol.

People on his street still ask if he wants a beer or some weed.

"No, I'm good," he said he tells them.

"And I just keep walking."

Kansas