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Sports: Hanging
with co-workers at coed softball. Page 10.
Tribes mourn
deaths of 4 BY STEVE POWELL spowell@marysvilleglobe.com
TULALIP – The deaths of four young people in a crash this week has devastated the Tulalip Tribes and the Marysville School District.
“Any death is heartbreaking, when we lose loved ones so young it is even more shocking and painful,” Tulalip Tribes Chairman Mel Sheldon told the tribalowned newspaper. He asked people on the reservation
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Family and friends have placed photos, religious objects and balloons at the site of the crash. Four people drowned when the pickup they were in flipped over that concrete ledge into a pond. “to hold your loved ones close and to give comfort to each other during this trying time.” Tulalip Tribes spokeswoman Niki Cleary added, “We’re definitely in shock.” The two young female
victims were going to be juniors at MarysvillePilchuck High School. “We are grieving today over the devastating loss of four young people, all current or former students in our district,” Superintendent
Becky Berg said. “We extend our support and sympathy to all of their families. This is yet another reminder of how fragile life is and how SEE TULALIP, PAGE 2
More kids finding ways to start drug use badam@arlingtontimes.com
INDEX BUSINESS
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CLASSIFIED ADS 16-18 LEGALS
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OPINION
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SPORTS
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WORSHIP
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Vol. 126, No. 2
“I think in your teen years you’re going through too much. ”
BY BRANDON ADAM
Back2School as popular as ever. Page 12.
ARLINGTON — The rise in substance abuse in young people is startling — particularly that kids as young as 12 are getting into it. Since 2005, Arlington has seen a 25 percent increase in treatment admissions through 2012 among 18 to 30-year-olds, Rory Bolter of the Arlington Police Department said. “Ultimately the people who are dealing the drugs don’t care what the kids’ age are,” Kelly Boardley of Cascade Valley Hospital said. Kids are even finding ways to sneak things in electronic cigarettes. “We don’t have a lot of research on those,” she said. “They’re legal in public but
Kelly Boardley, Cascade Valley Hospital
we never know what’s in there.” But since the legalization of marijuana and its perceived social acceptance as a recreational drug, Boardley said there are better options. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for teenagers,” she said. It’s the initial high that could entice teens to try more potent or harmful drugs, Boardley said. “I think that in your teen years, you’re going through
too much,” Boardley said, mentioning that the teenage brain is still developing with rapid changes in chemicals and hormones. Student athletes are also at risk. Addiction can come from pain killers athletes take. Boardley wants teens to think about choices that will impact their future. One recreational use of drug at a party for example can lead to a life of addiction, she said. “The biggest thing is to have them make healthy choices,” she said, like getting into activities such as sports or clubs. One of the
biggest myths is that drugs are an inner-city problem. “It’s a big problem in the community as well, and it’s a magnitude of things,” she said, such as teenagers having the idea that they are invincible. Hooked on Oxycontin A reason for the spike in drug use is partially due to the change in the ingredients of Oxycontin. In 2010, Purdue Pharma changed its formula to make Oxycontin more difficult to smoke. That resulted in about eight heroin-related deaths per 100,000 people by 2011.
But meth use also went up. Meth seized by Arlington police reached an all-time high in 2014 of about 1302 milligrams. Now users are beginning to mix them, creating “speedballs” — a mixture that gives users a “kick” from the meth followed by relaxation caused by the heroin, Bolter said. A trend in high school is buying over-the-counter medicine, or they go through parents’ medicine cabinets, then kids figure out you can smoke it, Bolter said. Heroin and meth, like cocaine, are highly addictive, and often users are chasing that “dragon,” or the first high they felt. But there are also new SEE DRUGS, PAGE 9
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