TEENS SMOKING, DRINKING ALCOHOL LESS, SURVEY FINDS -

Fewer Hawai'i teenagers are lighting up or hitting the bottle, but an
increasing number are using the illegal club drug Ecstasy, according to a
survey of nearly 28,000 students.

In addition, the state is able to provide substance-abuse treatment to just
a fraction of the estimated 11,000 students who need it, a Department of
Health official said yesterday.

The latest edition of the biannual survey of public and private school
students here shows that, overall, substance use and abuse continued to
decline in 2002.

For example, among Hawai'i high school seniors, smoking is down 21 percent
since 1996 and drinking is down 12 percent since 1987. Methamphetamine use
is down by more than half since 1989.

However, 10.6 percent of seniors said they have used Ecstasy at least once,
compared to 5.3 percent in 1998.

Hawai'i is below the national average is most categories.

State Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino credited prevention and treatment
programs, along with community members, for the positive trends but added,
"We continue to have great concern about the number of adolescents using and
abusing substances and needing substance-abuse treatment."

The 2002 Hawai'i Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Study by the
state Department of Health and the University of Hawai'i surveyed students
in the sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades at 181 public and 34 private
schools.

Elaine Wilson, chief of the Health Department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Division, said the department is providing treatment to students in 20 of
Hawai'i's 44 high schools and in three of 56 middle schools. Wilson
acknowledged that the need for treatment services far outweighs the
resources available to provide them.

Wilson said the state resources for adolescent programs have been about the
same for the past decade. She estimates that 11,000 students need treatment,
although only 1,500 can get treatment in school-based programs because of
limited money.

She said more treatment would mean "you actually would have less crime.
You'd have fewer people on welfare. You'd have more people at work. You'd
have families getting along better."

Some Waipahu Intermediate students who visited the State Capitol yesterday
to support after-school programs said they think the message is getting out
that drugs can be harmful.

Eighth-grader Jerwin Sacalamitao said he believes substance abuse is going
down for legal and illegal drugs. "I see less people using cigarettes,
alcohol," he said. "People are starting to think that they're not cool
anymore."

But Samantha Misa, 13, isn't sure that people tell the truth on the surveys.
While she and her friends don't do drugs, she said, she sees other people
more interested in "hanging out with their girlfriends" than paying
attention to school. "I believe it's going up," Misa said.

UH Associate Professor Renee Pearson, principal investigator for the study,
said the encouraging results can continue if the state continues prevention
and treatment programs. "The majority of students have not tried illegal
drugs," she said.

One area that bucked the trend was the illegal drug Ecstasy, which increased
in grades 8, 10 and 12. "It's nearly doubled among our 12th grade. We have
one out of 10 kids trying Ecstasy," Pearson said.

Charlee Malott, co-executive director of the Kalihi YMCA, said the community
needs to help kids stay in school and avoid the pressure to do drugs. "By
staying in school, they continue to have a structure that helps them address
those issues that come up around the drug use."

Drug Survey: See the complete report online:
http://www.state.hi.us/doh/resource/adad/report2002/