FEWER STUDENTS SEE RISK IN DRUGS

Narcotics Easy To Get, Study Finds

An alarming number of Halton students think there is no harm in taking
drugs, a new study says.

And students say narcotics such as cocaine and LSD are easy to
obtain.

"About 18 per cent of the students basically felt it was easy or very
easy to access cocaine, and almost 23 per cent said they could easily
obtain LSD," said Dr. Robert Nosal, Halton's medical officer of
health. "And 51.2 per cent said marijuana was very easy to obtain."

The study released Friday surveyed 3,304 students in Grades 7 and 8
and high school in Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills and Milton
between February and April, 1999.

According to the survey, only 29 per cent of the students said they
felt there was any "great risk" associated with trying cocaine once or
twice, compared to almost 43 per cent who said it was risky in a 1991
Ontario-wide drug survey.

While police are seeing an incredible increase in the use of ecstasy
in the club scene and on the street, powdered cocaine and its
offshoot, crack cocaine, remain their biggest concern.

The survey also suggested surging acceptance of marijuana among local
students. Forty-three per cent of the Halton students said they
strongly disapproved of adults using marijuana.

While that's the same figure a provincewide teen survey reached last
year, it's a drop of 18 points from the 61 per cent of Ontario teens
who disapproved in a 1991 survey.

Almost as many students said they had tried marijuana (26 per cent) as
had smoked a cigarette (28 per cent), and almost 40 per cent of
marijuana users said they smoked at least 10 joints in the past year.

To nobody's surprise, however, alcohol was the drug of choice for the
majority of Halton students - and its use is increasing, Nosal said.

Students at 11 elementary schools and 11 high schools participated in
the survey by Community Action for a Drug-free Youth.