Just Say "Know"
The reality of teen drug use in the Coulee Region.

by Lisa Grant

The statistics are chilling: By the time teens leave high school, 1 in 10 has tried an illegal drug. Two in 10 are using illicit drugs on a regular basis. If you think these statistics only apply to metropolitan areas, think again. Teen drug use is alive and well in the Coulee Region.

Just ask Beth Massman. Two years ago, she lost her 18-year-old son, Tyler Amann, to a methamphetamine-related suicide. “Prior to Tyler’s death, I didn’t know very much about drugs and didn’t think I needed to,” Massman says.

A Family’s Worst Nightmare
On Aug. 4, 2005, Massman’s world was forever changed when Tyler was found dead in his car along the side of a road. Unknown to his parents, Tyler had been using the drug methamphetamine (also known as “meth”), a highly addictive, powerful stimulant.

Using meth created a surge of dopamine in Tyler’s brain that made him feel good for a while, but left him feeling despondent after the high. After using for a few months, his brain was depleted of dopamine. He was unable to feel good anymore and no longer wanted to live.

“It was my worst nightmare coming true,” Massman says. “My husband and I had to sit our six remaining children down and tell them that we just lost their brother. Our lives had just been shattered.”

Massman’s daughter, Raeanna Johnson, who was recently crowned Miss Holmen, says it’s still difficult to realize her brother is gone. “I’ve heard it said that ‘suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,’” says Johnson. “I think about that and realize how powerful methamphetamine addiction is. It is almost unrealistic that a drug can take a great kid like my brother and turn him into someone completely different.”

Tyler’s death also left a mark on Holmen High School, from where he had graduated just a few months earlier. Students and staff were still reeling from the death of Sarah Mullenbach, who was killed by a drunk driver a year earlier.

Facts on teen drug abuse
Meth and other illicit drugs are only part of the substance abuse picture. Teens also abuse prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, and inhalants. Alcohol, however, is the most commonly abused substance.

There are many reasons why teens use drugs: physical pleasure, popularity, peer pressure, and even curiosity are just a few. Perhaps the biggest lie teens believe about drug use is that it will help them escape their problems.

“Sometimes kids have no one to talk to, or they feel like no one understands them,” says Nicole Stegmaier, a junior at Holmen High School. “They think the drugs will make their problems go away.”

Lisa Grant is a freelance writer who lives in Holmen. She is the editor of PARENtEEN newsletter (www.nnym.net/sites/parenteen).