Police, parents join forces to address teen drug use

New group is facing an old problem with talk and action

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

When Barbara Frederickson arrived at the first meeting of the Community Empowerment Group a few months ago, she was disappointed.

Six weeks earlier, she had received an e-mail from Lynn Mock, the Gig Harbor Police Department’s community safety officer, asking if any parents were interested in discussing ways to prevent teenage drug use and underage drinking.

“When I got that e-mail, I thought, ‘That’s perfect. I want to go and see what this is about,’ ” said Frederickson, a mother of a 12-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.

But when Frederickson showed up to an early morning meeting at the Gig Harbor Civic Center, she was surprised to find only four other people — including Mock — ready to have a conversation about what the GHPD considers a serious issue among the city’s youth.

“Drug use is actually a problem here,” Mock said.

Mock cites a survey conducted by the police department in 2007, when 41 percent of seniors at Gig Harbor High School admitted to using illegal drugs.

“I think this has been a consistent problem, but now, people are paying more attention to it,” she said.

Of the 191 students surveyed, 97 percent reported using marijuana, and 33 percent reported using prescription drugs recreationally.

“I think that’s a high amount,” Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike Davis said.

Students also said that, on average, they began experimenting with drugs when they were 13.

Based on those statistics, Frederickson assumed that more people would be interested in discussing why teens are using drugs in Gig Harbor, and what can be done to prevent it. Although she’s not sure whether a drug problem really exists here, she’s heard rumors about the teenage community.

“I have heard that, because Gig Harbor is a fairly affluent area, there are lots of kids who are able to afford these kind of drugs,” she said.

Frederickson hopes that by attending these meetings — and also attending the drug and Internet safety presentations that Mock held at GHHS earlier this year — she can learn the most effective way to talk about drugs with her children.

Fortunately, Frederickson isn’t the only one with those concerns.

By the time the Community Empowerment Group met for a second time last month, at least 20 people — including parents, business owners, representatives from the Peninsula School District, a family counselor and a few empty-nesters — had shown up at the new Uddenberg State Farm building off Pioneer Way.

Via word-of-mouth and through Mock’s organizing, the community had learned that teen drug use needed immediate attention.

“It was fantastic,” Frederickson said. “I walked in and I just saw so many people there.”

Frederickson said she was particularly impressed by community members without teenaged children — some with no children at all — who introduced themselves as “concerned citizens.”

“These are people from different parts of the community,” Frederickson said.

That community involvement, both Mock and Davis said, is what Gig Harbor needs to combat youth drinking and drug use, since the reasons why teenagers drink or turn to drugs like pot, cocaine — even methadone — are complicated.

In the 2007 survey, some offered boredom as one reason; others cited peer pressure.

Keeping kids away from drugs takes a multi-tiered approach, which is why Mock said she started the Community Empowerment Group in the first place. Whether it’s business owners keeping their doors open later so teenagers have safe places to hang out, or a counselor who can provide free advice for parents on how to talk about drugs with their kids, the group hopes to offer multiple solutions to tackle the problem.

One solution Mock hopes to implement is to raise funds and support for a “Party Patrol,” an incident response team that will break up underage parties where drugs or alcohol are present.

But rather than arresting teen offenders, the Patrol — modeled after a similar program in Puyallup — will help determine which youth are at risk for repeat offenses and offer counseling to their families.

Whatever the solutions may be, officials agree that the sooner they are found, the better it will be for Gig Harbor’s youth, since the statistics on drug arrests within city limits are staggering.

In the past 12 months, there have been 20 arrests for opium and cocaine possession; 147 for possession of synthetic narcotics, including meth and marijuana; and 31 arrests for possession of drug paraphernalia and narcotic buys — all within the 4.97 square miles of Gig Harbor.

The Gig Harbor Police Department raided a local residence just last week, where 30 marijuana plants were being grown for distribution.

It was the second local grow operation found in the past three months.

Underage drinking is a serious issue in Gig Harbor, as well. There were 30 arrests for liquor possession by minors in the past 12 months, a problem that Mock asserts is caused partially by parents giving alcohol to their children. Thirty percent of students surveyed said they have been given drugs or alcohol by their parents.

While Mock said none of the parents she’s worked with have admitted to giving their kids alcohol, she said that “some parents talk around the issue. They say they hear about parents who give alcohol to kids.”

Parents commonly assume it would be better to have their children drink in their own home than to be unsupervised elsewhere, Mock said. But that assumption also leads parents to condone underage drinking, which sets a negative example for their children.

Even worse, Mock said parents who give minors alcohol can be held liable for crimes that those minors might commit under the influence.

Davis said that most crimes in Gig Harbor originate from drug or alcohol use, both by first-time offenders whose judgement is impaired and by repeat offenders who may be looking to fuel a habit.

“I’ve always said that drugs are the drivers for most of our property crimes,” Davis said. “I’ll run the names of criminals who break into homes and cars, and they usually have previous drug offenses.”

Mock’s hope is that preventing drug use among Gig Harbor’s teenagers will help prevent other crimes in years to come. Although few teenagers have attended the Community Empowerment Group meetings so far, Mock hopes more will attend the drug safety class she plans to host this summer.

“We don’t want to encourage any drinking or drugs,” she said. “You may make some bad choices; that’s a consequence of growing up and living. But we want to refocus the attention to positive activities.”

Jill Uddenberg, who offered up her office space to host a recent meeting of the Community Empowerment Group, stressed that remaining proactive is the best way the community can address teen drug use. Although Uddenberg is currently vice president of the Peninsula School District’s Board of Directors, she said she attends the meetings as “concerned parent” of a 15-year-old high school freshman, not as a district representative.

“There is a drug and alcohol problem in this community,” she said. “I think parents and guardians need to wake up to fact that it is happening in our own homes.”

Upcoming Community Empowerment Group meeting

The group will hold its regular monthly meeting at 10 a.m. Monday at the Gig Harbor Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St. in Gig Harbor.

The group will also sponsor four classes throughout the summer that teach teenagers to “Act Cautiously and Decide Carefully.” The first class will focus on drug and alcohol prevention and awareness. It will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. June 23 at the Gig Harbor Civic Center.

For more information, call Lynn Mock at 253-842-2425 or e-mail mockl@cityofgigharbor.net.

Stats on drug use

Based on 2007 survey of 191 Gig Harbor High School seniors conducted by police officer Chet Dennis, 41 percent admitted to using illegal drugs.

97 percent admitted using marijuana.

15 percent admitted using Ecstasy.

In the past 12 months, there have been at least 228 drug- or alcohol-related arrests within city limits.

In the past school year, six students have been expelled from the PSD for marijuana possession, sale or delivery. Students are only expelled on their second offense.

Reach Reporter and Columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.