COCAINE USE INCREASES AMONG STUDENTS

Autauga County students are experimenting with illegal drugs at earlier
ages and cocaine has surpassed marijuana as the narcotic of choice,
according to a survey conducted by Peers Are Staying Straight.

Survey results also indicated that drug and alcohol use overall has
decreased among students in sixth through 12th grades. Fewer students were
arrested for underage alcohol purchases.

PASS recently released a survey on drug use in the county schools among
students in grades six through 12. The survey was given during the 2001-02
school year and approximately 3,500 students participated. According to the
results, drug use from cigarettes to marijuana is down in almost all grades
when compared to a similar survey given two years earlier. Only 11th-grade
students reported a decrease in cocaine usage, with 3.8 percent of those
surveyed saying they'd tried the drug.

Cocaine is popular among youngsters elsewhere in the nation, PASS Executive
Director Martha Ellis said. "This is a national trend," she said. "We're
going to start bringing a lot stronger awareness to the parents (with
children) in younger grades."

PASS places a big emphasis on awareness. Working with the schools starting
in the seventh grade, students are invited to participate in the PASS ID
program. Students sign a pledge not to use drugs or alcohol and are tested
for illegal drugs. They also agree to be randomly tested during the school
year. Students who pass the test receive an ID card that earns them
discounts at more than 60 businesses in Autauga County.

More than half of students in grades seven through nine participated in the
ID program last year. Billingsley seventh-grader Ashley McLean was one of
them. Angie McLean, her mother, said PASS gives her daughter the
information she needs to make the right choices.

"The more information she gets, the better choices she's going to make,"
McLean said.

PASS also works with the community. By working with the Prattville Police
Department, Chief Alfred Wadsworth said alcohol sales to minors have
dropped. The Police Department, PASS and the Alcoholic Beverage Control
board meet regularly with merchants, Ellis said. PASS participants go to
selected stores each month to test whether underage shoppers can buy alcohol.

In 1997, 33 percent of the alcohol venders were found selling to minors. In
2000, that figure dropped to 13 percent.

"One of the most unique things is it has the merchants and youths working
together to solve the problem," said Jan Byrne, education coordinator for ABC.

Autauga County has the only PASS program in the state and has been
recognized by the State Department of Justice for its successes in reducing
drug use and at-risk behavior. Ellis said the goal of the program is to
reduce drug use across the board by 20 percent over a six-year period.

"And we've already done that in some of the areas in four years," Ellis said.