Drug and alcohol problems rising among Utah's youths

The number of Utah teenagers in trouble with the law is on the rise — due in large part to a burgeoning substance-abuse problem and the increasing availability of drugs and alcohol.

Any weekend night, any time of the year, make your way to 5-Mile Pass on the west side of Utah Lake and join the party. In the sagebrush and dirt, teenagers drink and smoke.

Anytime you want, anywhere you want, 16-year-old Stephanie Riddle says. "You can't believe how easy it is to get anything."

"It's way too easy," said Eric Doxey, 18. "People talk about it like it's nothing."

Doxey and Riddle are not in trouble with the law — they are two teenagers among dozens interviewed by the Deseret Morning News for "The State of Teens" series. And every person interviewed said it is easier than ever to get your hands on about any kind of drug or type of alcohol.

Some teenagers sell it out of their lockers. Others from their cars. Young people get alcohol from friends, older siblings and their parents' liquor cabinets.

"I am absolutely amazed at the exposure that teenagers have to drugs. It flabbergasts me," said Ray Wahl, who supervises juvenile courts for the state of Utah. "It's got to be a really strong-willed kid who really has a strong set of values to be able to withstand some of the stuff that's around him."

And this exposure to drugs and alcohol is taking its toll on Utah's schools and criminal justice system.

In 2001, the statewide number of delinquent referrals to juvenile court was about 35,000, Wahl says. In 2002, that number dropped to about 33,000, following a downward trend that began in 1990.

But now that trend is reversing. About 34,000 Utah young people were referred to the juvenile court system in 2003, Wahl says.

Admissions to lock-down juvenile detention centers increased between 2000 and 2002, and the state always has too few beds to house its troubled teens. In 2002, 14,417 young people were in the state's detention programs.

It's simple math, Wahl says.

There is a direct correlation between referrals to juvenile court and the number of "at-risk" kids in the community. And today, there are a growing number of at-risk teenagers in Utah.

About 26 percent of juvenile referrals are specifically for drug or alcohol charges, but that only tells half the story, Wahl says.