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La Crescent teen offers youth help with addiction
Published - Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By Ryan Stotts of the Houston County News

Ethan Dahlquist is a teen with a mission. After struggling with drug addiction, Dahlquist has a new lease on life and a new way to help other teens struggling with drug use. He started a group, Youth Against Drugs and Alcohol (Y.A.D.A.), and runs it out of his La Crescent home.

One of the main reasons I started this group was because kids can get away with anything, Dahlquist said. Drugs are so much a part of their lives. The parents don’t know it. The kids’ lives are growing out of control right before their very eyes and they can’t stop it.

Dahlquist, 17, is a junior at La Crescent High School. He was a star wrestler, with a lot of ambition to succeed in sports, and got good grades. He was the last kid you’d expect to get hooked on drugs and alcohol, he said.

But, when he was in seventh grade, he was invited to a party with some senior-high boys. That was all it took to introduce him to the drug culture he said is so prevalent in high school these days.

Before that, I never would've done any drugs or alcohol, he said. All it took was a couple of upper classmen.

He found himself reliant on the drugs, and spiraling more and more out of control, once his family had to move to California for his dad’s job. The fast-paced culture, he said, along with his friend Brian’s suicide (also related to drug use) sent him on a crash course with the law, and ultimately with himself.

I got wrapped up in addiction, he said.

Carrie Dahlquist, Ethan’s mom, said she and her husband Patrick had no idea how extreme Ethan’s addiction had become. In 2006 she thought a relocation back to Minnesota, surrounded by friends and family, would help.

Coming back, we thought, would be the magical answer, Carrie said.

But, it wasn’t. Ethan’s crash course eventually led him to the Woodland Hills treatment center in Duluth. Once there, Ethan was finally able to deal with the issues that had led him to his addictions.

It really comes down to finding out who your friends are, he said. Now that I know, it makes me want to reach out.

So, he started Y.A.D.A. The group meets every Friday night at 7 p.m. in the basement of the Dahlquist home. It’s cool, said Carrie. It’s very casual. I’m here, but I’m in the background. This is Ethan’s thing.

Y.A.D.A., Ethan explained, offers a safe place for other kids to talk about their addictions or their temptations in that direction. Ethan said if he had been in a similar group it would’ve helped him.

The main thing for me was that I needed someone to talk to, he said. I wouldn’t have been as bad off.

The group has met twice, with a half-dozen kids showing up each time, Ethan said. He hopes to see the group grow in size and that they can find a new location with more room.

Carrie has thought about starting another forum for parents. Many times, she said, parents cannot see the signs of addiction. We were totally oblivious, she said.

Ethan’s dad, Patrick, said he’s proud of his son’s progress. And, he offers a warning for parents who might suspect drug use by their children.

Don’t trust anything, Patrick said. Question and challenge. It’s your house. We learned we can’t trust anything. If your son or daughter goes somewhere, check it out.

As for Ethan, his desire now is simple. He wanted to start a group to help shepherd other kids down the right path, not the one he has chosen in the past.

I want to give the kids a place to go to talk, he said.