Substance Abuse

LA CA—ADA FLINTRIDGE ? Tobacco use is the most common gateway to alcohol and drug abuse, a psychologist who studies foothill teen substance abuse told community leaders Saturday. Psychologist Paul Royer also said that children of overly-dominant or permissive parents are most likely to abuse drugs or alcohol; older teens and young adults who would normally be away at college are hanging around town and contributing to the teen substance abuse problem; and more 13- and 14-year-olds are using drugs and alcohol.

Crescenta Valley High School’s substance abuse problems are typical of substance abuse in schools across America. Fifty years ago, the biggest disciplinary problems in schools were chewing gum, throwing paper wads, getting out of line and talking in class. Now the biggest problems are substance abuse, weapons, violence, obesity, pregnancy, dropping out and suicide. How could a system managed by supposedly smart people become so dumb? Once pillars of pride in our communities, many schools are now more like prisons with high fences, metal detectors, police presence and now drug testing (“Another way to say no,” Dec. 23)

Everyone deserves an opportunity to start fresh. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with his or her second chance. Luckily, Tina Gonzales is not one of those people. Three years ago, the Glendale native was a single mother suffering not only from depression and recent drug and alcohol abuse, she said, but also from a chronic lack of self-esteem and self-worth. She was only a few months sober, having just completed her first 12-step program, but she had no job and no prospects, and so became in jeopardy of slipping back into her old habits.

A 26-year-old parolee pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of selling heroin at a Montrose strip mall parking lot, officials said. Vaghan Stepanyan, who is on parole for a grand theft conviction, faces six felony counts for drug sales, possessing a controlled substance and firearm violations, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint. Two other men - Tigran Zmrukhtyan, 19, of Pasadena and Nverik Yaghoomian, 26, of Glendale - also were charged with possessing a controlled substance after they allegedly purchased heroin in an alley and tried to rid of it when Glendale police spotted them.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- Glendale Police officials say they don't doubt the effectiveness of substance abuse education programs like D.A.R.E., even if a national report released last week does. "Unlike some groups, we don't look at D.A.R.E. subjectively," police spokesman Sgt. Bruce Fox said. "When society's drug problems go up, there's still kids that we're saving. But it's impossible to know the number." A six-year study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported Wednesday that "while they may be helpful in developing the students' perception of risk and ... in enhancing the will and skills to say no, a few classroom hours on substance abuse is likely to be of marginal impact ... on student behavior."

A UC Irvine professor is conducting a study to determine whether the state's zero-tolerance law for underage drinkers who drive is working to snuff out further substance abuse. Armed with a $97,000 grant, professor Christopher Carpenter is set to begin a 16-month study to test his theory that incentives have a role in substance abuse laws as well as in economics. In previous research, Carpenter found that having a zero-tolerance law reduces drinking by 13% among young men between the ages of 16 and 20. Now he wants to find out whether the tough drunk-driving laws have curbed abuse of other substances, namely tobacco and marijuana.

A Montrose woman lost her life in a traffic accident on La Tuna Canyon Road Tuesday morning. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, around 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday a silver Jeep crossed the double yellow line in the 9300 block of La Tuna Canyon into the path of a dark colored Saturn driven by Michelle Wincentsen, 31, of Montrose. "Wincentsen was unconscious when paramedics pulled her from the wreckage. They worked on her but pronounced her dead at the scene," said an LAPD spokesperson.

LA CRESCENTA — The Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition on Tuesday was awarded a major federal grant that will total $625,000 over the next five years as they work to thwart substance abuse among local teens. The Office of National Drug Control Policy selected the coalition and 168 other groups to receive the funding after determining they had show "significant reductions" in substance abuse over a 30-day period for teenagers, said the agency's spokesman, Daren Briscoe.

About half of the student body at Glendale High pin up notes on a new wall designed to illustrate effects of drug abuse.GLENDALE -- A handwritten note hangs along with 1,500 others on a brick wall at Glendale High School. It reads: "My cousin's boyfriend was DUI and got into a car accident. My cousin was killed but the boyfriend lived." Another reads: "More than half my friends get drunk on the weekends. Most of them get behind the wheel ... " All the notes are anonymous.

Do you, or someone you know, have a substance abuse or dependence issue? Does it affect professional, personal or emotional lives? Substance abuse is the self-medicating of other issues. I do not believe people become addicts by chance. Drugs and alcohol are often the first line of defense to medicate psychological disorders and emotional pain. If someone does not correlate his use with the fact that he has anxiety, depression, moments of feeling too high or too low, he may just be drinking or using because it makes him feel better.

A 26-year-old parolee pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of selling heroin at a Montrose strip mall parking lot, officials said. Vaghan Stepanyan, who is on parole for a grand theft conviction, faces six felony counts for drug sales, possessing a controlled substance and firearm violations, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint. Two other men - Tigran Zmrukhtyan, 19, of Pasadena and Nverik Yaghoomian, 26, of Glendale - also were charged with possessing a controlled substance after they allegedly purchased heroin in an alley and tried to rid of it when Glendale police spotted them.

Illegal drug and alcohol use among youth in the greater Glendale area - and the question of how to effectively combat it - drew dozens of local community leaders and health professionals to Verdugo Hills Hospital Friday where they exchanged strategies and goals. The community forum, hosted by the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition, was devised to inject a new sense of urgency into combating substance abuse among teens, organizers said. Objectives included identifying data sources that can help shape programming and intervention efforts, and convening community partners that might be able to share best practices and pool resources.

Do you, or someone you know, have a substance abuse or dependence issue? Does it affect professional, personal or emotional lives? Substance abuse is the self-medicating of other issues. I do not believe people become addicts by chance. Drugs and alcohol are often the first line of defense to medicate psychological disorders and emotional pain. If someone does not correlate his use with the fact that he has anxiety, depression, moments of feeling too high or too low, he may just be drinking or using because it makes him feel better.

I often use statistics as the launch pad for my opinions. So when I heard the following statistical data last week on Oprah, I knew I had to write about it. Her show was about men who were sexually abused. There were 200 men in the audience, all of whom were willing to admit they were molested as children. Statistical data indicates one out of every six men has been sexually abused. It's worth repeating. One out of every six men has been sexually abused. That one man could be your brother, your co-worker, or your boyfriend.

Everyone deserves an opportunity to start fresh. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with his or her second chance. Luckily, Tina Gonzales is not one of those people. Three years ago, the Glendale native was a single mother suffering not only from depression and recent drug and alcohol abuse, she said, but also from a chronic lack of self-esteem and self-worth. She was only a few months sober, having just completed her first 12-step program, but she had no job and no prospects, and so became in jeopardy of slipping back into her old habits.

LA CRESCENTA — The Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition on Tuesday was awarded a major federal grant that will total $625,000 over the next five years as they work to thwart substance abuse among local teens. The Office of National Drug Control Policy selected the coalition and 168 other groups to receive the funding after determining they had show "significant reductions" in substance abuse over a 30-day period for teenagers, said the agency's spokesman, Daren Briscoe.

Crescenta Valley High School’s substance abuse problems are typical of substance abuse in schools across America. Fifty years ago, the biggest disciplinary problems in schools were chewing gum, throwing paper wads, getting out of line and talking in class. Now the biggest problems are substance abuse, weapons, violence, obesity, pregnancy, dropping out and suicide. How could a system managed by supposedly smart people become so dumb? Once pillars of pride in our communities, many schools are now more like prisons with high fences, metal detectors, police presence and now drug testing (“Another way to say no,” Dec. 23)

?Any man who hits a woman is no man at all.? It is a sentence I have spoken many times in my years of teaching. The context varies, but it often gets brought up when the subject of alcohol is raised. Specifically it involves boys who drink and are prone to becoming violent when they drink. Occasionally I?ll hear stories of normally well-mannered, even-tempered boys who become something else once they?ve had a few beers (or a few six-packs as the case may be). Perhaps some of you reading this might remember this type of fellow back when you were in high school.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE — An independent review panel on Monday will reevaluate the county’s rejection of PATH Achieve Glendale’s $1.85 million funding application for a 24-hour homeless shelter after the service provider filed an appeal earlier this week. The First Step Housing Program would provide 25 beds for the city’s chronically homeless — who are the hardest to reach, and who typically resist treatment — at PATH Achieve’s current site on San Fernando Way in an industrial part of south Glendale.