MORE TEENS JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS

Survey Alcohol, Cigarette Use Down In State

After a decade of growing teen drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse, a state
survey released Wednesday shows a dramatic turnaround.

State officials say prevention efforts are paying off. And at least one
student agrees.

"I think the survey is true," said Taylor Brown, 15, a sophomore at Foran
High School in Milford.

"Kids are realizing how harmful drug use can be. I think we've been getting
the drug prevention program through our whole school lives, since
kindergarten," she said, adding that the message seems to be getting through.

A dark spot in the study was a small increase in the percentage of students
reporting they used the club drug Ecstasy. However, researchers said, the
prevalence of Ecstasy remains "very small."

Included in the good news was that smoking decreased by almost one- half
among seventh-eighth-graders compared to a 1997 survey and by one-third
among ninth- and 10th-graders, according to the University of Connecticut
Health Center survey conducted in the spring of 2000.

Also, the percentage of junior high school students who said they'd used
marijuana in the month before the survey decreased from 10.5 percent in
1997 to 7.2 percent in 2000, and among ninth- and 10th- graders from 26.9
to 22 percent.

The survey also noted a small decline in alcohol use. In 2000, 24 percent
of junior high students reported current use, compared to 27.1 percent in
1997. The recent use of inhalants also dropped among seventh-to-10th-graders.

"These findings validate our efforts to drive home the message of
prevention to our youth," said Thomas A. Kirk Jr., commissioner of the
state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

"We are encouraged by the results of the 2000 school survey, but we know
that we still have a long way to go," said Dianne Harnard, director of
prevention at the department.

"We're encouraged that the numbers are dropping statewide," said Dr. Wayne
F. Dailey of the department.

The survey was conducted among 9,130 students in grades seven to 10 from 24
communities, including Milford, Norwalk, Weston, Westport and Wilton in our
region. University of Connecticut Health Center researchers worked in
collaboration with school districts and the Governor's Prevention
Initiative for Youth.

"The most recent statewide survey of public school students indicates that
the trends in adolescent substance use in Connecticut may have finally
begun to reverse," the survey said.

However, not all the trends were positive, the survey said.

There was no significant change in the proportion of ninth- and 10th-
graders who said they used cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens in the month
previous to the survey.

The percentage of those who said they used Ecstasy grew from 2.3 in 1997 to
4 in 2000.

And Connecticut youths drink and use marijuana at higher rates than their
peers nationwide.

For example, 51.7 percent of Connecticut 10th-graders reported using beer,
wine or other alcoholic beverages in the month before the survey, versus 41
percent nationwide.

The survey said prevention programs that are provided early, often and
consistently have proven to be the most effective in decreasing drug use.

A follow-up survey is planned for 2002.

For more information see the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services Web site at www.dmhas.state.ct.us.