Youth drug use at Laurelhurst Park

A recent post to the Laurelhurst Blog describes the ongoing parties at Laurelhurst Park.  Following is an excerpt:

We regularly smell cigarette and marijuana smoke coming from that direction and have seen kids (only boys although that doesn’t mean girls haven’t been there) running up there with backpacks on (often coming on bike or scooter and even out walking their dog in daylight). They tuck deep in the corner and have complete coverage.

Currently there are broken beer bottles, in-tact bottles as well as a strong smell of urine.

If people are missing their junior high boys, I suspect they’d find them here… I’d guess these kids are junior high or early high school.
 
On Friday, I posted information to this blog about underage drinking parties at Magnuson and Golden Gardens.

Assault at Golden Gardens

On May 9, a Roosevelt High School student was assaulted at Golden Garden Park. The teenager's friend was stabbed and the RHS student was "also assaulted but did not require medical attention" according to the police report. The assault occurred after "a verbal argument ensued over what (was) described as an issue at school." A car was also damaged during the assault.

What is not mentioned in the police report is that underage drinking was involved. Our parks are havens for underage drinking parties and, increasingly, teenagers are injured or assaulted and property, including cars, is damaged or destroyed during these parties. While it's important to stop underage drinking because it is illegal and has negative health consequences, it's just as important to stop underage drinking to keep our kids and our parks safe.