KIDS SHUN TOBACCO; DRUG USE RISES

A recent survey of fifth-, sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders in
Pinellas County public schools shows a smaller percentage of students
using tobacco than in 1998.

Those students' use of inhalants - drugs that are sniffed to produce
a high - also declined.

Heroin and cocaine use - while not extensive - is on the rise,
generally among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders, as is the use of
``club drugs.''

And while alcohol and marijuana use declined, the percentage of
students using them is still high. So are percentages of students who
have driven drunk or ridden with a drunk or drinking driver.

Those facts are in a report completed this month by the Juvenile
Welfare Board, the school district and Operation PAR Inc. titled
``2000 Prevalence of Substance Use Among Pinellas County Students.''

A total of 27,015 students in grades 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 were
surveyed in May (grades 7 and 11 were excluded to be consistent with
previous surveys). The report looks at ``lifetime'' and recent drug,
alcohol and tobacco use by the students and behaviors that can hurt,
threaten or kill them.

``It really shows that a lot of media attention and intervention
efforts have gone into tobacco use and inhalant use - and you can see
the dramatic decline in the use of those two substances,'' said Julie
Goetz, senior research consultant with the JWB.

``Perhaps more intervention and prevention efforts could be directed
at students' use of heroin, cocaine and drugs used in clubs,'' she
said, as well as at use of alcohol and drugs by eighth-graders. That
grade showed large increases compared with students two years
younger, and in some instances compared to upper grades.

Besides providing information for prevention and intervention
efforts, the report can serve as a barometer for parents, she said.

``That's a key piece - to get parents to know this is going on, that
[their children] are using drugs, that they are driving drunk, that
they are getting into mischief at school,'' said Goetz. ``As scary as
it is, they still need to know about it.''

The report showed lifetime use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco and
snuff dropped, with the sharpest decline (5.9 percent) among high
school seniors.

That was lauded by associate superintendent Ron Stone.

``I think students are starting to get the message,'' promoted by the
student antismoking campaigns and the government and by seeing
relatives die of lung cancer, Stone said.

But a large number of students, especially in the upper grades, still
haven't gotten the message. Sixty-one percent of 12th-graders
reported using tobacco at least once in their lifetime as did 54
percent of 10th-graders and 44 percent of eighth-graders.

All grades surveyed reported a decline in the use of alcohol, with
the exception of eighth, which also reported a higher incidence of
binge drinking.

But the percentages are still high. Nearly 30 percent of fifth-
graders reported having used alcohol in their lifetime, 38 percent of
sixth graders, almost 65 percent of eighth graders, nearly 74 percent
of 10th graders and nearly 82 percent of 12th graders.

Use of heroin is generally on the rise among eighth, 10th and 12th
graders. Among eighth graders, 4.1 percent said they used heroin in
their lifetime; 4.7 percent of the 10th graders reported doing so as
did 4.5 percent of the 12th graders.

Lifetime use of cocaine was up in eighth and 10th grade, but down in
12th. The percentages of use for eighth, 10th and 12th graders are:
5.7, 7.8 and 9.1, respectively.

Also, despite a decrease in all but the eighth grade in the numbers
of students who have tried marijuana at least once, use of the drug
remains extensive. Nearly 29 percent of eighth graders reported
having used it, as did 43 percent of 10th graders and 53 percent of
high school seniors.

Eighth, 10th and 12th graders report an overall increase in the use
of ``club drugs'' - LSD, psychedelics, tranquilizers and GHB - with a
few exceptions. Those drugs are generally used at all-night dance
parties, such as raves, and at dance clubs or bars, the report notes.

Lifetime use of GHB - the street name for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a
sedative/depressant - is up. Nearly 4 percent of eighth graders
reported using it, 5 percent of 10th graders and 7 percent of seniors.

Lifetime use of psychedelics, other than LSD, also is up. A total of
8.5 percent of eighth graders reported using them, as did 14 percent
of 10th graders and nearly 16 percent of seniors.

Lifetime use of tranquilizers is reportedly higher for eighth and
10th graders, with 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, reporting
having used them. Use by seniors showed a slight dip at 13.5 percent.

Lifetime LSD use also is up among eighth graders at 9 percent, but
down with 10th and 12th graders at 14 percent and nearly 19 percent,
respectively.

In a positive note, lifetime use of inhalants by all grades surveyed
declined, for some grades drastically, compared with 1998.

About 3 percent of fifth graders reported using inhalants, compared
with 12 percent in 1998; 8 percent of sixth graders, compared with 19
percent two years earlier; 18 percent of 8th graders, compared with
19 percent in 1998; 12 percent of 10th graders, compared with 16
percent in 1998; and 10 percent of 12th graders, compared with nearly
13 percent two years earlier.

In a less than positive note, the incidence of youngsters riding in a
vehicle operated by a driver who was drunk or had been drinking - and
of youngsters driving drunk themselves - continues to remain high,
though percentages were generally down.

A total of 31 percent of fifth graders reported riding with an
alcohol impaired driver at least once in their lifetime, as did 37
percent of sixth graders, 52 percent of eighth graders; 55 percent of
10th graders and 59 percent of 12th graders.

A total of 10 percent of eighth graders reported driving under the
influence of alcohol at least once, 15 percent of 10th graders and 36
percent of 12th graders.

Stone said that certain aspects of the data, including the reported
heroin and cocaine use, call for even more prevention and
intervention efforts than are now being undertaken. But he said the
schools rely on the community, parents and the media to reinforce
anti-drug, alcohol and smoking messages. Unfortunately the media
glamorizes such use, he said.

``Our challenge is trying to get the students to say ``no'' -
period,'' said Stone.

Interestingly, in all grades surveyed, students reported that schools
are less tolerant of drug use than parents, as evidenced by the rules
they set. Nearly 66 percent of 12th graders said that schools often
or always set rules against drug use - while only 40 percent of
parents do.

For the first time, the agencies also surveyed students on behaviors
that could put them at risk. A total of 2.1 percent of fifth graders
reported carrying a weapon on school property in the past 30 days, as
did 3.5 percent of sixth graders, 7.5 percent of eighth graders, 6.3
percent of 10th graders and 6.4 percent of 12th graders.

A total of 8.9 percent of fifth graders reported being threatened or
injured with a weapon at school in the past 12 months, as did 12.5
percent of sixth graders, 14.4 percent of eighth graders, 11.6
percent of 10th graders and 9.4 percent of 12th graders.

Among fifth graders, 21.3 percent reported being in a fight on school
property in the past 12 months, as did 25 percent of 6th graders,
26.5 percent of eighth graders, 22.5 percent of 10th graders and 9.7
percent of 12 graders.