Local Students Present Solutions To Drug Czar Won Trip To D.C. By Postulating Answers To Teen Drug Problem

Two Spokane Valley students gave the nation’s top drug officials tips Thursday on how to curb teen drug use.

Valley students Christopher Holmes and Devon Van Dyne told national drug czar Barry McCaffrey that current programs aren’t working.

“We need a new program that looks behind the facts and statistics … a more personalized plan is the key to reaching a variety of individuals,” said Van Dyne, a University High School junior.

Statistics prove programs aren’t as effective as they once were, said Holmes, a Bowdish Junior High eighth-grader.

“During the last three years, marijuana use has doubled among eighth-graders,” Holmes said.

The two were the winners of a new essay contest, Students Taking Action and Responsibility, designed by Rep. George Nethercutt, a Spokane Republican. In May, they were chosen the top contestants among 250 entrants from throughout Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District.

They won a weeklong trip to Washington, D.C., with one of their parents.

Private donations paid for the contest and trip. Nethercutt said the contest was created to encourage young people to get involved in solving community problems.

This year’s contestants were asked for essays on creative ways to curb teenage drug use.

Holmes won the seventh-through-ninth-grade division with his recommendation of a junior high curriculum he called “CODE R.E.D.” for Resistance through Education about Drugs.

His program would emphasize what he believes are the primary entry points into hard drug use: peer pressure and gateway drugs like tobacco, alcohol and marijuana.

Van Dyne, who won the 10th-through-12th-grade division, recommended a three-pronged approach to curb teenage drug use.

She suggested schools use recovering drug addicts as mentors, organize after-school student support groups and create hotlines for students facing peer pressure.