While most people know that teen drug abuse isn't limited to high-crime neighborhoods, they may not realize that honor students are turning to drugs, too -- not to get high at parties but to get A's on tests. Y-Press spoke with three teens who have seen the inside of this unconventional substance abuse epidemic: Penelope, a recent graduate of Cathedral High School; Maynard, a student at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School; and Connie, who finished her sophomore year at a public school last year and attends a private school now.

The temptation of drugs and alcohol can start at an early age. According to a University of Michigan study, more than half of high school students will use illicit drugs by the time they graduate. Rachel and Chris are two teens who felt the allure of drugs and alcohol in high school. Now in treatment, they are overcoming their addictions with the help of their families and the Pathway Family Cente

"I had stolen CDs from this certain store over and over again, both under the influence and clean, and I'd never been caught. . . . "And I walked in with a bag of marijuana in my pocket to go steal a couple of CDs. I guess they were targeting us from the moment we walked in the door, me and a friend of mine. And as we were walking out, they pulled us to the side . . . and of course they searched o

"It depends on what drug it is. If it was a prescription drug, I'd trust the doctor. I've had friends that abuse aspirin and it is bad for them." Greg Hill, 23 Indiana University Bloomington "I'd try to help them. I'd make sure they were aware of what it could do to you, and I'd try to help him/her any way I could." Lisa Miller, 20 Goshen College Goshen, Ind. I'd tell him to get o

Some teens who shop at health food stores aren't looking for typical items such as soy milk, whole-wheat flour or multivitamins. They come for products such as Stat and Naturally Klean, shelling out $10 to $30 a bottle to join the thousands of people who purchase drug cleansers each year. Drug cleansers are supplements that claim to allow a drug user to pass a drug test, usually within a four- to

At least once a year, many Indiana high school students are herded into the gym or auditorium. Over the loudspeakers, they are warned not to stop at their locker or the restroom on the way. This is not a fire drill -- it is a drug search. While students are in the gym, police and drug-sniffing dogs search the school premises, checking cars, lockers, backpacks and purses. Such searches are common i

W hen former All-Star Jose Canseco used his book "Juiced" to go public on steroid use by professional baseball players, it not only embarrassed the sport, it cast suspicion over other athletes, even at the high school level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its 2000 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey that among high school seniors, 3.3 percent of females and 6.4 perc

"It's like I lost all control of my life. It's like one time and after that it was just like that was my normal routine in life." 16-year-old inmate at juvenile correctional facility, on her methamphetamine use ou know how you have your favorite toy and you just want to play with that favorite toy like all the time? Well, that's how meth was with me." So says Hazel, an imprisoned 16-year-old, on t

M ethamphetamine provided James with a high without the "downer" side effects of marijuana and alcohol. "Say we went to a party on the weekend or something like that, you know, we'd get drunk and everything, then I'd crash. I'd just smoke some meth and I'd be up and speeding and ready to go. We'd be up all night playing video games or talking on the phone or something like that." Meth also offered