One in six Carson high-schoolers try meth

Nearly one out of every six high-school students in Carson City report having tried methamphetamine at least once.

The true numbers may be higher.

According a 2005 survey conducted by the Nevada Department of Education, 16 percent of high-schoolers have used the drug, 10 percent at least three times or more.

In the 2005 survey, almost 4 percent of middle-school students said they'd tried it.

The annual Youth Risk-Behavior Study polls all students in school, overlooking those who are absent.

"Part of what concerns me with meth-using kids, is a lot of them aren't going to be represented by these numbers," said Eric Ohlson, executive director of Carson City's Community Council on Youth. "Those are not the kids who are typically going to be in the classroom."

He said he views the results as "very conservative."

"I would very safely say it's on the low side," he concluded.

Nationally, meth use is on the rise. According to the Bureau of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, 38 percent of addicts entering substance-abuse programs in 2004 identified methamphetamine as one of the drugs they used, 26 percent said it was their primary drug. That's a 7 percent jump from 2000.

The number of Carson High School students who reported in the 2005 survey that they'd used meth was higher than in 2003, when 12.3 percent reported having tried it. However, it's down from the 20.6 percent in 2001 who said they'd used methamphetamine.

Although the number of Carson City students who used meth are much lower than those who have tried alcohol - 78 percent of high-schoolers and 48 percent of middle-schoolers - Ohlson said parents and community leaders should still be concerned.

"When you compare it to alcohol use, it's not nearly as much," he said. "But once you get hooked on meth, you spiral out of control quickly. It has such a powerful effect. It's different than other drugs, and that's where it really becomes alarming."

The physical effects are visible almost immediately. Users lose weight right away, which can be part of its allure.

"There are certainly kids who will target it to try to lose weight," Ohlson said.

However, physical deterioration soon follows. Tooth rot and decay is common, often referred to as "meth mouth," and addicts often develop body tremors. Picking and scratching at the face is also a common side-effect.

The physical effects then trigger psychological reactions.

"What worries me is the not sleeping," Ohlson said. "That's where you can start to see some pretty quick psychotic effects - anxiousness, paranoia, really irrational."

The Carson City School District has placed 80 posters featuring pictures of addicts - provided by the anti-meth coalition, Partnership Carson City - throughout the schools.

"I think it does impact them, especially high-school students, when you show them what it does to you physically," said Superintendent Mary Pierczynski. "They care about what they look like."

Deterring students from trying the drug will help keep them in school, she said.

"(Methamphetamine) contributes to the drop-out rates," she said. "It's very difficult to lead the two lives."

Pierczynski, a member of Partnership Carson City, a coalition made up of community leaders to battle the sale and use of the drug, said her focus is combating drug-use among students. However, she said, the problem extends beyond young people.

"The more I see, and the more I've learned, it's not just young people who are doing it," she said. "It's all age groups and all ethnicities, everybody. It's awful."

• Contact reporter Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1272.