SURVEY RANKS COUNTY TEENS HIGH IN DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE

"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Pam Roebuck, responding to the news
that substance abuse is up among Martin County teenagers.

Roebuck, an assistant state attorney who handles almost all of the county's
juvenile cases, said the community should be concerned about the percentage
of teens who are using illegal drugs.

The percentage of Martin County youth using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana,
is higher than anywhere else on the Treasure Coast, according to a recent
survey by the state Department of Children and Families.

The degree of substance abuse among teenagers in Martin County is also
significantly higher than Palm Beach County or state averages.

Martin County school officials find fault with the study and say local
schools are effective in battling teenage alcohol and drug abuse.

More than half of Florida's youth reportedly have used alcohol at least
once in their lives while in Martin County, 43.6 percent of middle school
students and 81.6 percent of high school students reported using alcohol.

In St. Lucie County, 72.7 percent of high school students reported trying
alcohol. In Palm Beach County, 54 percent of all middle and high school
students reported alcohol use.

Current alcohol use was also assessed in the survey showing almost
one-third (31 percent) of teens statewide had used alcohol in the past 30 days.

In Martin County, 40.1 percent of the youth surveyed said they had used
alcohol in the past month.

Statewide, 8.8 percent of middle school students and 23.3 percent of the
high school students admitted to binge drinking in the past two weeks.
Again, the Martin County rates were higher. At the high school level, 38.3
percent said they had consumed five or more drinks in one sitting during
the two weeks prior to the survey.

The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey was a collaborative effort of the
Florida departments of Health, Education, Children and Families, and
Juvenile Justice, and the Florida Office of Drug Control. The survey was
administered to students in grades six through 12 between December 1999 and
February 2000. A total of 580 schools in 64 counties participated in the
survey. A total of 65,246 surveys were processed.

Statewide, a higher percentage of survey respondents were female, but in
Martin County, more of the participating students were male.

The local survey also indicated use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and
inhalants among males was higher than among females. For example, 27.9
percent of the males surveyed, compared to 19.4 percent females, reported
binge drinking. A larger number of males (34.2 percent versus 31.3 percent
females) also reported marijuana use.

According to the survey, 55.9 percent of Martin County's high school
students have tried marijuana compared to 49.1 percent in St. Lucie and
36.6 percent statewide. Local use of other substances, from inhalants to
designer drugs, is also rising, and is already above the state average.

Trend not new

Roebuck said the high numbers are not alarming, as she has known about the
substance abuse problem among Martin County youth for some time.

"I could have told you it's way above the national average," Roebuck said.

"Nobody thinks it's a problem here on a daily basis but I see it every
day," she said.

Schools fight problem

Some Martin County school officials, however, say they aren't convinced.

Upon reviewing the initial survey results late last month, Diane Pierce,
director of school improvement, said school officials disagreed with the
findings.

"We have some things we want them to change," Pierce said without going
into detail about what parts of the survey could be inaccurate. She was
unavailable for additional comments.

Pierce said the district's drug-free schools program does a good job of
steering young people away from drug and alcohol use. Martin County
Sheriff's Detective Lt. Morgan Sprott, agrees.

"There are plenty of programs," said Sprott, who heads the Martin County
School District's school police program.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, conducted at elementary
schools throughout the district, is working, Sprott said.

Even so, Sprott said he is aware drug and alcohol use among Martin County
teens is rising.

"Parents allow it, so it wouldn't surprise me," Sprott said. "There are
plenty of programs, but without parental support to reinforce the message
being said, we are just spinning our wheels."

On-campus crime reports show two students have faced drug paraphernalia and
possession charges since classes began on Aug. 14 one student at Martin
County High on Sept. 26 and one at Hidden Oaks Middle School on Oct. 2.
Another student was arrested at Murray Middle School, on Oct. 5, and
charged with possession of alcohol.

The number of students getting caught smoking on campus is on the rise,
too. So far, eight students have been issued citations to appear in court
for possession of tobacco at school. However, only one student has been
arrested at Spectrum Junior Senior High, on Oct. 4.

Last year, school crime reports show marijuana arrests remained steady,
but, according to Sprott, use of prescription drugs was up.

A report issued from the Department of Education covering the 1998-99
school year shows 94 alcohol, tobacco and other-drug offenses were reported
by on-site Martin County school administrators. More recent statistics
aren't available.

A breakdown of individual schools shows Stuart Middle school had 22
incidents, Hidden Oaks 11, Murray Middle School eight, and Indiantown
Middle School reported one. Nineteen incidents were each reported at South
Fork and Martin County high schools.

Not enough supervision?

Roebuck said part of the problem in Martin County is parents and those who
work most closely with youth may be in denial.

"They don't think it's a problem because a lot of the drug use we see here
is recreational," Roebuck said. "Children around here are afforded more and
take advantage of that. What bothers me is the attitude that moderation is
OK almost expected. That's the prevailing attitude among teens."

Unfortunately, it's also an attitude among too many Martin County adults,
Roebuck said.

"They say its OK under a controlled environment," Roebuck said. "I'm not
sure there's a strong enough safety net of parents who are countering that
attitude. There needs to be a lot more alcohol education for parents and
teens."

Link to affluence

According to the DCF survey, the increase in substance abuse statewide is
most obvious among middle and upper socio-economic populations.

Compared to all other national ethnic groups, the findings show, African
American youth have lower lifetime and past 30-day use for all substances
sampled. At the state level, the lifetime usage for alcohol among African
American youth was 39.5 percent; for white, non-Hispanic youth it was 58.7
percent.

And, even if it's a hard pill for Martin County parents and educators to
swallow, that also appears to be the finding in Martin County.

"I can show the arrests broken down by ZIP codes," said Roebuck.

Part of the problem in affluent communities, Roebuck said, is parents don't
always give children the quality time and heartfelt attention they need.

"When a child has a problem, instead of talking about it, some parents
around here will buy their kids a ski trip or a new toy," Roebuck said.

Support offered

Roebuck said she would welcome the opportunity to speak to groups of
parents and educators on this issue such as through parent-teachers
association meetings.

"Alcohol use contributes to loss of brain cells," Roebuck said. "And there
are deaths and injuries related to driving. These things need to be
absolutely reinforced."