STUDY: TEENS USING DRUGS ON THE DECLINE

PIERRE - Drug abuse awareness and education is an integral part of
school curricula nationwide.

For this reason local educators are pleased at the results reported
in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which shows the number of high
school students in South Dakota who have used some types of drugs
has decreased since 1997.

The information was recently reprinted in the South Dakota "Kids
Count Factbook," which is published every January by the University
of South Dakota.

The survey itself has been performed every two years since 1991 by
the South Dakota Department of Education.

April Hodges, an HIV/AIDS coordinator for the department, said the
survey results are pooled from a random selection of public, private
and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools across the state.

"There are around 1,500 kids that take part, so we get a pretty good
grouping," Hodges said. "And we weight the results so that any
response can be generalized to any community in South Dakota."

The most recent survey results were originally published last year
and showed the percentage of high schoolers who took various types
of drugs has been decreasing since 1997.

Among the findings for tobacco use, the survey showed in 1997 the
percentage of students who had tried cigarettes as 75 percent. By
2005 that percentage dropped to 61 percent.

The percentage of students who had smoked at least once within the
last 30 days before taking part in the survey was 44 percent in
1997. It had dropped to 28 percent by 2005.

The survey also showed underage drinking was on the decline, with
the percentage of students who drank at least once, 30 days before
taking the survey, decreasing from 60 percent in 1997 to 47 percent in 2005.

The number of students who smoked marijuana within 30 days of the
survey also decreased.

These figures are encouraging to Gib Sudbeck, director of alcohol
and drug abuse through the Department of Social Services.

"I'm very happy that the number of kids that are using certain drugs
is going down in the state," said Sudbeck in an article from the
Associated Press. "I think we're doing things right, at this time."

T.F. Riggs High School principal Mike Fugitt agrees.

"There are several classes we teach here that deal with students
making good choices," Fugitt said. "We cover those issues in our
health classes and other skills for living classes."

Fugitt said the students receive information about drug abuse via
speakers at schoolwide assemblies, the push for drug awareness and
education has been maintained for a number of years, he said. He
approved of the results of the survey.

"It certainly is good news and it makes us happy," Fugitt said. "It
suggests that all the efforts being made in the schools and other
agencies in the community are paying off."