Teens, Alcohol and Drugs in Santa Barbara
By Leah Etling, Edhat staff
September 13, 2009

Update: On Oct. 27, we wrote another article about teens and Isla Vista Halloween. Find it here

They're all possible in Santa Barbara, according to anecdotal evidence, although what scares some parents more are parents who offer kids the opportunity to drink at a private home in a "safe, supervised" environment.

Edhat put out a call for comments and conversation about junior high and high school teens drinking and using drugs. This is the beginning of that conversation, and we plan to continue the effort - it doesn't stop with this story. Please add your voice to the dialogue. If you'd like to talk on a higher level than a website chat board, email us.

What our initial foray into this area revealed is that the issue of teen drinking and drug use transcends racial and economic demographics, the size of the problem is likely determined by a personal sense of bad and good, right and wrong (among parents and kids), and there isn't a single finger to be pointed at a single source in blame.

From talking to parents, educators, a rehab volunteer, and submitting questions to the police, we learned that there are some things that adults can do -- relatively easy ones -- to help their children. The one group we need to speak with more in depth is the teens themselves. It would be best to include many more of their voices in this conversation going forward.

Longtime educators and the police recognize teen drug and alcohol use as a consistent issue over the decades, with surges and declines, trends of popularity for different products (prescription drugs, including Oxycontin and Ritalin, are currently on the upswing locally), and is influenced by lifestyle and local culture. Parents should lock up their prescriptions, even if they trust their kids, suggested one responder.

Another recent trend is teens drinking energy drinks that contain alcohol, like Tilt, Core and Sparks, which look like sodas but are actually high-octane cocktails in cans.

Police and parents suggest that Santa Barbara's multiple medical marijuana centers do play a role in making pot a more "acceptable" drug of choice for teens. One mother says she knows many young women who say they use it for stomach cramps. The Police Department reports that in recent years, the high school has seen students carrying medical marijuana cards and attempting to explain away their use of the drug with them.

"If you were a school administrator, what would you do? Some doctors will prescribe for just about anything," said Santa Barbara Police Dept. spokesperson Lt. Paul McCaffrey. However, he feels that reports of easy access to cocaine for local teens are overblown.

"I don't think most kids use it, and I think most kids would have trouble getting it," he said in an interview. So does a local teen we were able to talk to, who said that while high school students have easy access to pot, they are rarely doing more serious drugs.

Parents come from all sides. There are those who remember what it was like to be a teenager, remember partying themselves, and have a permissive attitude. Some trust their kids to know their limits. There are those who think "my kid won't do that," and indeed, we are not saying this is an issue that affects all teens. Other parents are scared of the unknowns and want to protect their kids. Some take a zero tolerance approach. And yes, some are just not paying attention or working so hard they don't notice what's going on with their child.

"Kids drink. At home. At the movies. At parties. At work, if they can get away with being unsupervised-like working at a local theatre where everybody gets high and loaded on the job?Kids act as though it's not just a rite of passage but a requirement of teenage life these days," said one parent. Edhat allowed parents to comment on this issue without giving their names. We have verified their identities, and that they have teenage children.

"The kids always find a way to get alcohol, pot etc. They are always surprised when I take it away from them. The young adults that hang out with them try to say, ?Hey, I'm 21,' like that makes it OK for them to bring a beer to my house and give it to a minor. Keeping kids from experimenting is harder than keeping people out of the Tea Gardens at sunset. I have stayed up all night long emptying bottles and taking away lighters to find a kid drunk when the sun comes up," said a local dad.

Both parents and educators point to a need for more positive alternatives for kids, and say that the need is there for kids of all racial groups and income levels.

"Even a really straight kid is going to be on State Street on a weekend evening. They are going to have access and temptation, and like small town kids everywhere, boredom. There isn't an all-ages music hall that is open every weekend. There isn't a successful private enterprise teen hangout -- like a hamburger joint or drive in used to be," a parent said.

One problem with the city's teen center, says one teacher, is that it's on the west side, so kids with east side neighborhood loyalties can't go there.

"I'm more focused on keeping them out of gangs (than alcohol and pot)," said the teacher, who keeps in touch with his students as they go to junior high and high school. One simple thing parents can do to keep tabs on their kids - which seems obvious, but still apparently gets overlooked - is to look at their MySpace page. Teens post pictures of what they're up to, and some like to brag to their friends about what sort of daring activities they've been doing.

"A big question is - how do they not see weed and pictures of kids stoned on MySpace?" the teacher asked.

Some local parents of older teens (younger kids are still likely to have MySpace, while high school kids have started to gravitate toward Facebook) have taken the approach of setting up their own Facebook accounts and friending their kids' friends, giving them some insight into what is going on among the group.

"One of the things that is happening that leaves many of us parents scratching our heads is the number of large, organized, unsupervised parties that are going on around our area, mostly in IV but also in SB," said a mother. She asked what approach parents should take if they know about a party where alcohol is being served to minors. Should they call the police?

Lt. McCaffrey said that calling the police is an option. The call would likely be referred to a designated officer, who is charged with enforcing the city's social host ordinance, instituted in the last year and followed by a similar policy for the county.

The police officer, whose job includes addressing social host issues, is also assigned other tasks. Details on how many parties have been broken up or how many adults cited as a result of violating the new ordinance were not available.

Here is the text of the city ordinance:

Unlawful Gatherings on Private Real Property When Alcohol is Served to Minors; Host Presumption; Declaration of Public Nuisance.
A. Unlawful Gatherings. No person shall permit, allow, or host a party, gathering, or event at his or her place of residence (or other private real property under his or her ownership or control) where alcoholic beverages are in the possession of, or consumed by, any minor.
B. Host Presumption. It is presumed that the owner of the private real property on which the party, gathering, or event occurs is a person who has permitted, allowed, or hosted the party, gathering or event, unless the private real property is rented, in which case it is presumed that the tenant has permitted, allowed, or hosted the party, gathering, or event.
C. Public Nuisance. It is hereby declared to be a public nuisance for any person to permit, allow, or host a party, gathering, or event at his or her place of residence (or other private real property under his or her ownership or control) where alcoholic beverages are in the possession of, or are being consumed by, any minor. (Ord. 5457, 2008.)

However, teens say that parties are more likely to have alcohol furnished by an older brother or sister, or even a homeless person who receives a large tip for buying drinks, rather than parents.

"I don't know a lot of parents who are OK with alcohol," said one teen. Most parties happen when someone's parents have gone out of town. Parents who are willing to call the home where the party is taking place - and verify that the person they're speaking with is actually a parent, not a clever kid with an adult voice - could go a long way to generating peace of mind.

The attitude of parents who supply alcohol to teens in their homes seems to be that they want to control the situation. The intent may be authentic, but such a tactic can backfire.

"There certainly have been adults who have used very poor judgment," said Lt. Paul McCaffrey. Over the last 12 months, the department has issued 58 citations to adults for supplying minors with alcohol, although McCaffrey said the majority of those have come from sting operations done with underage alcohol buying decoys. Such stings take place three to four times a year and have been a successful deterrent in keeping stores from selling to kids who are under 21.

The number of minor in possession of alcohol citations issued in the city over the last 12 months (from September 2008 to September 2009) was 234, but many of those come from the State Street bar scene, McCaffrey said.

Statistics from the high school resource officers on how many drug or alcohol infractions are charged on school campuses each were not provided.

The nationwide DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program continues as an effort to be a preventative deterrent for kids. It has changed over the years from the "just say no" model featuring a trench coat-wearing dog as its spokesman, to a program that emphasizes positive decision making, teachers say. Some try to push the decision-making rubric even after students leave the program.

DARE statistics show that 1 in 16 high school students smoke marijuana daily, and in excess of 60% of teens will have consumed alcohol or done some sort of a drug by the time they leave high school. One local expert discounts any and all statistics available dealing with drugs and alcohol, saying they're empirical and the kids being asked are too likely to lie.

Statistics from the Adolescent Substance Abuse Knowledge Base are higher - 32 percent of teens have had their first drink before age 13, 14 percent have sniffed glue to get high, 11 percent have tried marijuana before age 13, 30 percent have been offered or sold a drug on a school campus, 81 percent have had a drink during their lifetime, 47 percent have used marijuana during their lifetime.

It would be good to see a set of local statistics. One student put the amount of teens who use alcohol weekly locally at about 50 percent, with the percentage highest as kids are in their junior and senior years of school and have more freedom of transportation.

On a positive note, the student emphasized that kids in his social set watch out for one another, even if there aren't parents around. They designate someone to drive, he said.

"Most of the time, everybody has a safe ride home."

Once again, this is the beginning of that conversation, and we plan to continue the effort - it doesn't stop with this story. Please add your voice to the dialogue. If you'd like to talk on a higher level than a website chat board, email us. You can also add your comments on this story by clicking the link below.

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