STUDENT SURVEY SHOWS PERCEPTIONS ON DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE

By 12th grade, most local students say they "agree" or "somewhat
agree" that getting alcohol is easy.

The same students as a group agreed that it was even easier to get
smoking tobacco; and those surveyed said that except for tobacco,
prescription drugs prescribed for someone else were the easiest drug
of all to obtain, even in front of inhalants like glue and paint.

Ringgold High School Principal Sharon Vaughn said she has been in
education for 38 years. For her, the Georgia Student Health Survey II
administered to 423 students in October is just a confirmation of
what she already knew.

"Quite honestly," she said, "this situation of substance abuse, in my
opinion, has not changed at all."

In the wake of the prescription drug overdose deaths of several local
teens - including Ringgold High School student Timmy Smith in March -
school officials are paying more attention to statistics like these
and hoping that students will wise up to the dangers of drug abuse.

School resources director Coleman Burroughs said the health survey is
given to students throughout Georgia in grades six, eight, 10 and 12
and covers a range of topics. All of Catoosa County's middle schools
and high schools participated, and students answered anonymously.

Participants took between 30 and 45 minutes to respond to statements
about drugs, alcohol, school environment and general health by
answering straight "yes" or "no" questions or by indicating that they
"strongly agree," "somewhat agree," somewhat disagree" or "strongly disagree."

"It's not scientific, but it's very close," Burroughs said of the
survey. "I think, by and large, we got a pretty useful sample of information."

Burroughs said the results help educators and the Catoosa County
Sheriff's Department team up to tailor school-based drug education
programs, like CHAMPS. They also make teachers more aware of problems
students face as a group so they can respond accordingly, he said.

The survey shows that students' perception of disapproval by adults
was different from that of their own-age peers. Fewer students said
adults would disapprove if they used marijuana than said they would
disapprove if they used tobacco or alcohol. However, the opposite was
true when asked about their peers. More students said their friends
would disapprove if they used marijuana than said they would
disapprove if they used tobacco or alcohol.

Heritage Middle School Principal Chris Lusk said that while educators
have done a "pretty good job" in convincing students of the
harmfulness of tobacco, they need to step up efforts to teach them
how harmful alcohol and marijuana are.

"I think students watch programming and listen to music that presents
these two in a way that makes 'recreational' use acceptable," he said.

Lusk said he plans to review the survey results with his
admininstrative team and counselors.

"I know that they will be able to help formulate ways we can take
care of the needs of our students," he said.

Many students know they can die from a prescription drug overdose,
Burroughs said, but they continue to make poor decisions. Part of the
reason could be that they are dealing with so many pressures
relatively unfamiliar to the previous generation, educators said.

Vaughn said many students are working to support their families and
babysitting younger siblings or even their own children; many come
from broken homes; some have already moved out on their own; and
others are homeless.

Still others take their home problems with them to school, and often
abuse drugs or alcohol because of the other complications in their
lives, educators said. Many lack the influence of a trusted adult,
and some adults they trust also use illegal drugs, Burroughs said.

"It's just very, very difficult for them to be able to do all these
things," he said. "They face different stress levels than when I was
in school."

Students still experiment with drugs and still do so at about the
same ages, Vaughn said. The only difference is that now more students
than ever have access to prescription drugs and are abusing them as
well as the illegal substances.

Catching students who are abusing prescription medications is more
difficult than catching someone who is high on, for example,
marijuana or crystal methamphetamine, she said.

"They're so obvious that other kids will tell us," Vaughn said, "but
with prescription drugs, it is very, very difficult to detect."

According to the survey, prescription drug abuse was more prevalent
during and after 10th grade than at any other time. The average age
when students began using prescription