June 05, 2012 |

Underage drinking is gateway to drug use

by Frank Scarpati - Jun. 2, 2012 12:00 AM

My Turn

A bipartisan congressional panel held a hearing at the Arizona National Guard headquarters in Phoenix last

month. They were in town to learn more about how the United States can do a better job of combating drug

trafficking from Mexico.

Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix, told the

panel that addressing the demand for illegal drugs in the U.S. is as important as cracking down on drug-

smuggling organizations.

"It wouldn't get produced and it wouldn't come here if we didn't use it," Allen said.

As the president and CEO of one of the largest and oldest non-profit agencies in Arizona that addresses

substance abuse and prevention, I applaud Allen for his wisdom. If we can stem the use of drugs in Arizona

and the rest of the country, we'll go far toward solving the bigger issues of the drug cartels and the myriad

crimes and ruined lives with which they litter our society.

The gateway drug of choice for most of our children is not marijuana, meth or prescription drugs, although

those are certainly problems we must address. The gateway drug is alcohol. The average age at which

Arizona kids start using alcohol is 13. Alcohol use among eighth-graders in Arizona is 7 percent higher than the national average. And kids who end up in juvenile detention facilities in our state report starting their

alcohol usage as young as 10.

At Community Bridges, with support and funding from Magellan Health Services of Arizona, we started the

Mesa Prevention Alliance with local community leaders to combat underage drinking. Similar programs

exist in other cities in Arizona and around the country. Our mantra to adults is, "Protect, don't provide." The

Alliance is taking this message into homes, neighborhoods and retail establishments. Protect our kids. Don't

provide them with alcohol.

It's the first step in ramping down the demand for illegal drugs among older youths and adults. Now that

we know that the dangerous cycle of drug abuse begins with kids abusing alcohol, we can all work together

to make sure our youth don't take this first step on what we know is a very deadly road.

It should be very inconvenient for 13-year-old kids to use a convenience store to buy alcoholic beverages.

They're getting their alcohol from adults who will buy it for them. Typically, they may initially steal

alcohol from their own homes or their friends' homes.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, was one of the hosts for the congressional panel last month. She said, "One of the strongest messages I will take back to Washington" from the hearing is the need to do more

about reducing the demand for drugs. Rep. Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., said, "We have to work on the demand

side as well as the supply side."

They're both right, as is Special Agent Allen. We can't arrest and incarcerate our way out of drug trafficking

from Mexico.

Dr. Frank Scarpati is President and CEO of Community Bridges, Inc. .

For More Information about the Mesa Prevention Alliance, visit JoinMPA.org