Up In Smoke
   By Jorge Holmstead, Fenville Times columnist

   It seems that every day, television and print media are plastered with news about drug culture becomming increasingly popular among America's youth. We hear these same stories all the time - drugs in the schools, ten-year-old children being arrested for marijuana use, and the like.
   Of course, most of the parents living in the metro area have the same attitude about these issues: not in my town. They seem unable to realize that this isn't the town they grew up in anymore. In the past twenty years, the city's population has swelled from 18,500 in 1983, to this year's count of 45,800 persons, over 10% of which are teenagers who have to face the glaring reality of drug culture every day, both in and out of the school environment.
   This newspaper recently conducted an informal survey of students attending the city's two high schools. This survey was focused on determining exactly how many students have used drugs such as LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin, as well as psychadelic mushrooms and various types of alcohol. The results of the survey shocked us.
   At Southside High School, we found that 73% of the students admitted to having used illegal substances in the past year, and 35% of those students admitted to using illegal substances to excess. Marijuana, beer, and vodka were preferred by the majority of the school's users.
   Edison High School, on the city's north side, gave us similarly troubling results, but on the other side of the spectrum. 69% of the students admitted to having used illegal drugs, with 38% of those uses "to excess." However, we found that Edison students preferred the "harder" drugs, like cocaine and mushrooms.
   The school district administration declined to comment on our findings, citing their own research into the issue. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that this drug problem is far worse than we could imagine. In fact, last week's raid of a warehouse on the city's north side, which was believed to be owned by John Carlo Santuni, a former member of Detroit's Finucci crime family, shows that the issue of major illegal drug trade and organized crime are no stranger to our small city.
   The saddest part of this story is the effect this drug culture has on both the youth and adults in the city. In next week's follow-up to this column, we'll meet Betty Ann DeCillian, mother of Kevin DeCillian who last year, at the age of 14, took his own life while under the influence of LSD. We'll also discuss steps that parents can take to keep their children off drugs.