SURVEY: MAJORITY OF STUDENTS ARE DRUG FREE, BUT OFFICIALS STILL CONCERNED

MADISON - The town will tighten its plan to combat substance abuse,
following the release of a drug survey in which one-third of 7th-to
12th-grade students reported drug and/or alcohol use.

"It is important that this data is available to us," said
Superintendent Kaye Griffin. "We are very proud that 63.2 percent of
our students are abstaining from alcohol and drug use, but there is
data in these reports that we find troubling."

The survey was distributed by the Rocky Mountain Behavioral Science
Institute based in Colorado who have put in 15 years of research into
the survey. It has been administered to students since 1987 and has
been developed and refined using 200,000 adolescents across America.

"There were very few parents who objected to having their children
take this survey, and students who were absent that day did not
participate," said Assistant Superintendent Anita Rutlin.

In order to reduce the number of answers that might have been
exaggerated or false, Griffin says the schools emphasized that the
survey would be completely confidential, and not even the faculty of
the schools would see the answers. The Rocky Mountain Behavioral
Science Institute upon receiving the survey rejected certain forms
that had what was felt to be inconsistent or exaggerated responses.

"Only three percent of Madison students had surveys rejected because
of exaggerated answers, and only two percent of the surveys were
classified as 'inconsistent responders'," says Griffin. "We received
good feedback from faculty that the environment during the survey was
very quiet and serious."

According to the results, alcohol was the overriding substance with
the most use and accessibility, with 79 percent of students claiming
alcohol is easy to access and alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana are the
most commonly used drugs among youth in Madison and nationwide.

"A surprise to us was the use of alcohol jumps between seventh and
eighth grade in our schools," says Griffin. "Under the percentage of
students who have tried alcohol, it goes from 14 percent in seventh
grade to 34 percent in eighth grade."

Vice Chair for the Selectmen's Council on Substance Abuse Mary Beth
Golja says though it was sobering to see the results, it is a first
step to create more preventative programs to target a younger audience.

"We are very excited the survey finally happened and it went much
quicker than we thought," says Golja. "It is a way to build awareness
in the community."

According to the survey, 12.9 percent of students surveyed were
categorized as "light alcohol users". This is a low involvement
pattern that the institute defines as students who rarely, if ever,
get drunk and may have experimented with some other drug but have not
continued the use. The results will be shared with the students
surveyed in the coming weeks.

"I compliment the Board of Education for putting this survey out
there," say police Chief Paul Jakubson. "To have 95 percent
participation; that is amazing. To the parents and the townspeople,
the police will support you in this effort because we ultimately deal
with kids that have gone down the wrong path, and that is something
we do not want to see."

A steering committee involving Madison Public Schools, Youth Service,
Committee on Children and Youth, police, and Selectmen's Council on
Substance Abuse will create an action plan to combat substance abuse
during January and February of 2007, present a preliminary plan to
the Board of Education, Board of Selectmen, and Board of Finance
between March and April, and conduct community forums to gain
feedback and support for the proposed plan in May and June.