Gary Hillebrand of Preferred Family Healthcare facilitated a discussion on the ongoing problem of teen drinking in the county; he said that the earlier that people intervene, the more likely that alcohol use among teens can be prevented. The meeting was held at the United Methodist Church in Grant City Monday and was attended by Tim and Betty Hayes, Lori Wimer, Clella Goodwin, and Superintendent Matt Robinson. Hayes said that his concern was drugs and alcohol and that in a lot of places where he has lived, “alcohol is like water in a faucet.” Betty Hayes added that frequently in this area, teens have adults buy it for them through some place that will sell it.
Clella Goodwin, guidance counselor at Worth County R-III, said that there were a lot of kids who were busy, but for those who were not, there was a perception that “there was nothing to do.” Consequently, they will go and hang out with young adults who will supply them with alcohol and “I don’t know how to help.” Hillebrand said that was a problem even among large communities; he said that they did surveys of teens in cities as big as Chicago and that even there, there was a perception that there was nothing to do. He said that part of the problem was inflation, seeing that stuff that used to cost $1.50 or so now costs $10 or more, well outside of family budgets.
Hillebrand said that the downside with many one week programs was that “it is one week and they’re done.” He said that people were dealing with a life and death situation because there were situations in which a split second decision meant the difference between life and death.
The prevention service field, of which Preferred Family Health is a part, has grown tremendously as people everywhere were seeking answers to drug and alcohol abuse. Hillebrand said that when he first began working for the company, he knew everyone by name, but that now they had grown to over 600 employees, 23-24 facilities around the State of Missouri, and one facility as far away as San Antonio. The nearest facility to this area is Liberty, which can be reached at (816) 407-1754. They have prevention specialists like Mr. Hillebrand, school based programs, community based training. Preferred Family Healthcare is designated as a Regional Support Center and is certified by the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Hillebrand said that communities knew better than Preferred Family Health what their needs are; “My job is to facilitate and figure out what you want and how we can help you.”
Turning to early intervention, Hillebrand said that in Missouri, 11½ was the average age of first use of alcohol. He said that what they have found is that the longer that they can delay the first onset of alcohol use, the less likely that kids were to have problems with alcohol. He said that the more likely that teens were to stop usage before 30 days, the better outcomes there would be as well. Ideally, Hillebrand said that based on what is known about the human body, people should not start drinking before the age of 25, when the body is much better able to handle the effects of drinking. “Earlier, it becomes poison,” he explained. He said that if the body doesn’t function well, then underage drinking can lead to alcoholic poisoning, a potentially fatal condition.
Hillebrand said that there were other drug problems that were there in addition to alcohol. For instance, there were constantly different drugs being tried. However, Missouri remains the top state for meth production, with 807 labs busted in the state last year compared to 142 for California.
“It takes the whole community to address these problems,” said Hillebrand. He added that the best chance of getting government money for a program was if there was evidence that a program works. He said that other criteria were implementation, evaluation, and sustainability.
Hillebrand said that there was no such thing as a drug which gets rid of pain that was not addictive. “If there is a drug that is out there that gets rid of pain, you will want it again and again,” he said. He said that any substance that alters the mind, body, or spirit could be classified as a drug – even water or air. For instance, he said that people have died of water overdoses from rupturing their bowels. He said that people could also die from hyperventilation from breathing too much air and that hospitals had to keep oxygen tanks locked up so that people would not steal them and use them to get high. “I can go to the grocery store and get all the things I need to get high,” he said.
Therefore, Hillebrand said that it was a matter of what was taught. In addition, he said that it was a matter of programs as well; for instance, the City of St. Joseph requires anyone who serves alcohol to take tests regarding serving alcohol. He said that what they found was that they were less likely to serve alcohol to minors and more likely to call the police if minors attempted to purchase alcohol. Other communities have sought to become smoke-free; for instance, a student-led initiative making the Worth County school a smoke-free campus was successfully implemented. And Hillebrand said that sometimes, it was a matter of culture change. “You have to decide which way you want to go,” he said.
Hillebrand said that he had worked in drug treatment with kids who had given their lives over to drugs; for instance, he worked with one kid who had spent $300 per day on his cocaine habit. In addition, he didn’t work for it, but obtained the money illegally. “Even that kid wished that someone had told him no when it came to alcohol,” he said. Hillebrand said that even if your kid doesn’t drink, “What if your non-drinking kid is killed by a drunk driver?”
Ultimately, Hillebrand said that if people didn’t act, then they would be asked, “Why didn’t you do anything” whenever there was a tragic situation involving alcohol. As an example of what can happen, Hillebrand said that there was one tragic situation involving alcohol which caused a multiple pileup and fatalities in England, which has been used as an ad campaign against irresponsible drinking. In it, there was a small child screaming, “Please make mommy and daddy wake up!”
He said all these sorts of things were preventable but that one of the main obstacles was the stigma involved. For instance, he said suicide was preventable, but that there was a stigma about talking about it and a wrong perception that if you talk about it, it would make people more likely to commit it. He said that there was also a stigma regarding mental illness as well; 80% of suicidal people have some sort of mental disorder. Hillebrand said that addressing these issues involved talking about these sorts of situations and that the same thing was true with drugs or alcohol.
There are plenty of myths about underage drinking addressed by the US Department of Health and Human Services. One myth was that alcohol is not as harmful as other drugs; however, it has been found to increase risk of many other diseases such as cancer. Another myth is that alcohol is a good way to loosen up at parties; however, it also makes people do things they wouldn’t normally do such as get into fights or have sex. Drinking alcohol is not cool as is frequently perceived because it can cause bad breath and weight gain.
There is also a perception that all the other kids drink; however, more than 70% of youth from 12 to 20 have not had a drink in the past month. Another myth is that people can sober up quickly; however, it takes 2-3 hours for a single drink to leave the body. Nothing can speed up the process, including coffee, taking a cold shower, or “walking it off.” Another myth is that adults drink; therefore, kids should drink as well. However, a young person’s brain and body are still growing; drinking alcohol can cause learning problems or lead to adult alcoholism.
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