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It takes a village to prevent drug abuse

Erica F. Curless  •  Staff writer
Published April 5, 2008

Retired Bannock County detective Howard Manwaring says some so-called energy drinks compare to beer in alcohol content. The Spokesman-Review (JESSE TINSLEY The Spokesman-Review) Related section: Our kids: Our business

Fighting addiction and child abuse must start with communities such as Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, not the Idaho Legislature, an addictive behavior consultant told a class of child-care workers Friday.

"You can't expect the Legislature to keep pumping money down a rat hole," instructor Howard Manwaring, a retired Bannock County sheriff's detective, said. "Communities have to get together and decide: What do we do with our kids, our offenders, our drug addicts."

Manwaring said his class, focusing on drug, alcohol and gang activities in Idaho, is a good start to community involvement because it brings together everyone who works with addiction and child abuse.

About 60 people attended the class, sponsored by the 1st Judicial District CASA program – Court-Appointed Special Advocates for Children.

Substance abuse, which includes tobacco, is at the center of most child abuse cases in Idaho and the nation, Manwaring said. About 80 percent of child abuse cases nationwide involve drugs or alcohol, he said, showing a photo of an Idaho preschooler with a bruise on his back in the shape of a boot. The boy had hidden his father's cigarettes, which resulted in the brutal stomping.

Manwaring said it's crucial to keep children in school and free from drugs and alcohol so they don't grow up to become adults who use substances and abuse their children.

Methamphetamine, he explained, is one of the West's biggest problems because it's addicting from the first smoke. The need for the drug is so consuming that often addicts will give up their children instead of the drug, and that has had an effect on the state's foster care program, Manwaring said.

Alcohol is the most abused drug in America. Because it's legal for adults, children often are confused about why it's so harmful for them to drink. Manwaring told of a Pocatello high school student who got "bombed" in class every day on energy drinks that contain 8 percent alcohol. Before Manwaring caught him, the student said nobody ever questioned him because the cans look so similar to nonalcoholic energy drinks.

Teens ask similar questions about marijuana, arguing that their parents smoked it so it can't be too dangerous, Manwaring said. He said today's marijuana plants are hybridized and grown with chemicals, and they contain about 38 percent THC, the addictive part of the plant. In the 1960s, the THC level was about 3 percent.

That's why it's important for school officials, law enforcement officers and parents to stay up on the latest trends for using drugs and alcohol, Manwaring said.

A recent Idaho state survey showed that 35 percent of 12th-grade boys have had five or more alcohol drinks in a row – considered binge drinking – in the previous 30 days. "This ought to scare us to death, folks," Manwaring said.

Tony Lamanna, a Priest River Lamanna High School resource officer, said school districts need to start providing classes in grade school about making healthy choices. "We have to start down at first grade," he said. "All we're doing is throwing money at a problem if we start in junior high and up."

Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Barry Black, who deals with juvenile cases, said drug abuse starts with educational neglect.

"If you don't address it early on it's going to be a problem," he said. "The only way to stop building prisons is to stop kids from being adult users."

Manwaring agreed, adding that Idaho's drug abuse rate is always similar to its truancy rate. "Kids who aren't in schools are often out doing drugs," he said.