MIXED RESULTS IN BRIGHTON SCHOOL DRUG SURVEY

BRIGHTON - A large number of Brighton students continue to use alcohol and
marijuana, although substance abuse appears to be declining overall in the
district, a newly released survey shows.

Nearly a third of the 12th-graders admitted using marijuana and 51 percent
said they had drunk alcohol within the 30 days before the survey of about
300 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students was taken by the district last
spring.

Superintendent Dave Pruneau says the survey indicates that parents need to
be more involved in their children's lives.

"It looks like (overall), the rates are going down," Pruneau said. "What's
discouraging is the percentage of kids who take drugs and alcohol. We're
doing a lot in the schools that addresses the issue, but we need community
support to reduce risk-taking behaviors."

The survey shows alcohol and drug use down among eighth- and 10th- graders.
But the number of 12th-graders using marijuana was up 9 percentage points
from a survey taken in 1999, while the percentage of those drinking alcohol
fell 6 points.

"Binge" drinking increased substantially in the 12th grade, with 44 percent
reporting having been "very drunk one or more times within the past month."
Also, one of five seniors has driven a car after drinking, reversing an
eight-year decline.

One of the bright spots in the survey, taken every other year since 1989,
was a continued decrease in the number of students in all three grade
levels who smoked cigarettes. Bonnie Riutta, assistant superintendent for
curriculum, said cigarette smoking in the Brighton Area Schools is now
below both the state and national averages.

The survey, released at Monday's Board of Education meeting, is patterned
after a University of Michigan survey developed by Lloyd D. Johnston,
principal investigator in the 2000 "Monitoring the Future" study.

High school learning coordinator Barb Williams told the school board that
students say the percentages in the survey "are on the low side" compared
to the reality.

Williams says many people in the community don't want to admit there is
drug use among its children.

"We go through a lot of denial in Brighton," Williams said, urging the
board to send a strong message to students. "If we continue to work hard to
get kids to understand drugs and alcohol are harmful, we will continue to
impact their use of drugs," she said.

Among specific drugs, the rates of 12th- and 10th-graders reporting they
have tried marijuana at least once, or in the past 12 months, "have
declined moderately over the past six years," the report states.

But the use of cocaine, an amphetamine, has increased, with 16 percent of
12th-graders saying they had tried it at least once, continuing an upward
spiral over the last eight years. Use by seniors of LSD, a hallucinogen,
has also increased, with more than one-fourth reporting they used it at
least once. The increases put Brighton above the state and national
averages, which show a decline.

"It scares me," school board president Cindy Cvengros said, calling it a
"community problem."

Students were not asked whether they had used ecstasy, a trendy and
dangerous drug, but it may be added to the 2003 survey, Cvengros said.