Schools 'infested' with drugs? It depends

[carrotfire]

Suvey contradicts earlier findings

By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY

A new national study of middle school and high school students calls U.S. schools "drug-infested," even though the major studies used to gauge teen drug use show a decline.
The telephone survey for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, being released today, asked 1,063 students ages 12-17 about illegal drugs at school and whether they ever witnessed students high or drunk.
From 2002 to 2007, the percentage who said they attended school where drugs were used, kept or stored increased 12 percentage points to 31% in middle schools. Among high schools, the increase was from 44% to 61%, the survey shows.
The survey was done by QEV Analytics, a public-opinion research firm in Washington, D.C., for CASA a non-profit founded by Joseph Califano Jr., secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter administration.
"We clearly have a drug culture in most of the country's high schools and a significant proportion of the middle schools," he says.
Other data reflect a less troublesome picture. Large national studies last year by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Monitoring the Future at the University of Michigan both suggest drug use among teenagers is down,
SAMHSA's report found 9.9% of 12-17 year olds in 2005 used drugs within the previous month, down from 11.6% in 2002. The Michigan study noted overall declines in 2006, including declines in marijuana use, but said prescription drugs remain at "relatively high levels."
Schools must be given credit for their anti-drug efforts, says H. Westley Clark, a psychiatrist who directs SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
"Despite the availability they describe, our data sugests that progress has been made and is being made," Clark says.
Deborah Price, assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, says surveys suggest that only a small group of teens get drugs or use drugs at school.
"We have not seen that to be the case - that the school itself is a location for the availability of drugs," she says.
Steve Pasierb, president of the non-profit Partnership for a Drug-Free America, says kids tend to overestimate availability of drugs and drug use by their peers.
He says he's not sure "infested" would be a valid conclusion, considering the small number of students surveyed - 365 middle schoolers and 659 high school students.
"Everybody who went to school in the last two decades knew somebody who used drugs," he adds.
But David Evans of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition, based in Flemington, NJ which supports student drug testing, agrees with CASA's statement that schools are "drug-infested" because it "infests your attitude," he says.
"What the CASA report is saying, 'Kids see it too much and are exposed to it too much.'"

THURSDAY, AUGUST !6, 2007 - pg 7D

carrotfire Reviewed by carrotfire on 08-17-2007. Schools 'infested' with drugs? It depends Suvey contradicts earlier findings By Sharon Jayson USA TODAY A new national study of middle school and high school students calls U.S. schools "drug-infested," even though the major studies used to gauge teen drug use show a decline. The telephone survey for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, being released today, asked 1,063 students ages 12-17 about illegal drugs at school and whether they ever witnessed students high or Rating: 5

[carrotfire]

The "surveys" are only as accurate as the responses. For some reason, "drug" use is considered to be the same as abuse/addiction. Drug-Free Schools Coalition - do they receive funds from either/or alcohol, tobaco, and/or drug testing companies?

[ganjzilla]

yeah i would not call all drug use as an abuse...some ppl use drugs and alcohol for years and its never been what u would call out of control...i smoke everyday and am in complete control of my life...

[Deepsuthern]

i'm a regular smoker myself and i recently got promoted to supervisor for a larger dept. since my 8 months with the company, however i do remember that my high school days did not go to well because of a heavy dependance on dope.. in fact it got me expelled along with 2 felonies... enjoy mary j, but not so much that it unmotivates and corrupts your life

[wannabehippiegirl]

My school was dubbed the second largest drug trafficing school in the state...They knew this become we had to take a survey and what not
Its not something to be proud about but its kinda cool lol

[Matt the Funk]

My school was dubbed the second largest drug trafficing school in the state...They knew this become we had to take a survey and what not
Its not something to be proud about but its kinda cool lol

lol...at my highschool you could get any drug you wanted. But in middle school, 8th grade year I was the only one doing all types of drugs, but a few others were smoking weed too(mostly my friends). Drugs and school just go together because the age of middleschool and highschool students.

[wannabehippiegirl]

yeah
lol i can walk down my school halls and get at least 5 types of drugs just on the spot
the weird thing is my school is nice...ppl arent in poverty...you would think it would be different for schools in nicer areas
haha i dont mind it tho

[killerweed420]

Who better to abuse drugs than kids?
Shit for us old fucks a six pack or 2 and a couple bong hits and its a 2 or 3 day hangover. With kids they're ready to do it again next night.

[Paulkishi]

I took that test twice and I lied on them both times. That kinda proves how accurate it is.

[pixel]

this article is kinda true, but when you read it you kinda picture a school full of dealers screaming out prices and weights at their lockers like a flea market or something.. drugs have always been everywhere an nowhere at the same time. they might be right next to you, but unless you know the right person or are the right person, you'll never know they were there