MORE KIDS INGEST DRUGS' BEST CURE: PREVENTION

Pinellas County is pulling its weight in the statewide march toward
Gov. Jeb Bush's goal of cutting substance abuse in half in Florida by
2005.

According to the 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey -- the most
extensive survey of its type in the nation -- Pinellas County's sixth-
through 12th-graders are increasingly making the right choices. Among
the findings:

o Alcohol use dropped for the first time in years. Current use -- use
within the past 30 days -- is at 35.1 percent; it was 43.4 percent in
2000. Our goal is 20 percent or less use by 2005.

o Marijuana use has gone down as well. In the past two years it has
declined from 18.6 percent to 16.1 percent. Our goal by 2005 is 8
percent or less.

o Regarding cigarette use, our youth are racing toward the state's
2005 goal of 14 percent. This rate has dropped from 24.3 percent in
2000 to 15 percent in 2002. The state has surpassed this goal also. We
will now revise our objective to an even lower level.

o Our youth have moved away from traditional drugs of abuse: heroin
(0.5 percent use), crack cocaine (0.5 percent), cocaine (1 percent),
and methamphetamine (1.2 percent). Even Ecstasy use is down to 1.9
percent

What is the key to success -- Education. The direct and indirect
public health impact of substance abuse is widespread, and
fluctuations in trends reinforce the need for education as a
continuous process for children, parents, communities and
policymakers.

The Coalition to Prevent Substance Abuse and Suicide has provided
education and prevention efforts through its all-volunteer
participation. Working closely with the Pinellas County Sheriffs
Office Boot Camp, Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-Entry Coalition, Suncoast
Practice and Research Collaborative, Juvenile Welfare Board, Drug
Treatment Organizations and Springfield College of Tampa, Dr. Stella
Pagano and the coalition continue to play a critically important role:
to communicate from the grass roots level the importance in the
development of substance abuse prevention theory, programming and research.

Operation PAR at Springbrook Hospital and the Pinellas County Sheriffs
Office have also contributed to the movement to keep our kids drug-
free. Operation PAR has been key in fighting Southwest Florida's
substance abuse problem,Serving more than 13,000 individuals a year in
intervention and treatment services. The agency reaches an additional
40,000 people a year with messages of substance abuse awareness,
education, prevention, research and referrals.

The Pinellas County Sheriffs Office has doubled the number of school
resource officers in each of the eight high schools, improving their
ability to act as educators and law enforcement officials. Crime watch
programs in middle and high schools have been increased, empowering
students to take back their schools and keep them safe.

Speaking of safe, Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs are having a
positive impact along with Students Against Destructive Decisions.
Osceola High School's SADD program was recognized as one of the top
two programs in the state last year.

Nearly 63,000 sixth-through 12th-graders in public schools are
surveyed in Florida annually to measure attitudes and behavior in
regard to substance abuse. Each percentage point drop indicated 25,000
fewer teens using drugs.

The general rule is that where antidrug coalitions are in place, drug
use is going down. Why has Florida seen declining drug use numbers
while the rest of the nation's usage rates are going up -- Because our
approach to the systemic drug problem our nation faces has differed
from other states'.

Gov. Bush focused the state effort on prevention, education and
treatment. Clearly, prevention is the key to reducing the demand for
illegal drugs, and it begins with our youth. Throughout his term in
office, the governor has visited countless treatment and prevention
centers and led the rallying cry of concerned parents and
neighborhoods to turn their children away from drug abuse and help the
afflicted. He has increased funding for state drug control efforts by
65 percent, or $109.3-million during the past five years. As a result,
nearly 52,000 additional people are receiving substance abuse
services, for a total of 254,598 in fiscal year 2002-2003. The
2003-2004 budget brings total funding in this critical area to
$277-million.

For those who are already caught up in drug addiction, the answer,
whenever possible, is treatment. That is why the number of drug courts
(which stress treatment in lieu of incarceration for more than 10,000
nonviolent first-time drug offenders a year) has increased from 34
statewide in 1998 to 82 today. Ninety-three drug courts will become
operational by next January.

In the end, we seek to return drug abusers to productive
citizenship.

To view county and state results of the Florida Youth Substance Abuse
Survey, log on to www.myflorida.com/drugcontrol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James R. McDonough is the director of the Florida Office of Drug
Control.