SURVEY: STORY COUNTY YOUTH DRUG USE BELOW STATE AVERAGE

AMES--The number of Story County youth who use tobacco, alcohol and other
drugs is below state averages.

Youth leaders and counselors say the news is good but say there's more work
to be done. Youth and Shelter Services Director George Belitsos said
whichever way you look at the results, sometimes "the glass is either half
empty or half full."

Some say the statistics are a reflection of Story County's white-collar
population or the local support for prevention programs and the home of the
largest youth rehabilitation center in the state, Youth and Shelter
Services. Others say the statistics aren't a good indicator of the truth.

According to the survey completed by the University of Iowa in 1999:

38 percent of Story County youth have used alcohol;

24 percent of Story County youth have used tobacco;

18 percent of Story County youth have used drugs.

The statewide average youth tobacco use is 33 percent; alcohol use is 47
percent and drug use is 21 percent.

"I think it speaks well of our community," Belitsos said.

The numbers are encouraging to YSS Community Youth and Family Development
Coordinator Jody Kammin, who works closely with youth in Story County school
districts. To Kammin, the numbers show that few kids are using tobacco.

Kammin coordinates the "Few Do" smoking prevention program. Through
billboards, book covers and flyers, the program attempts to show youth that
smoking isn't as popular as some youth think it is, by emphasizing that in
1998, 85 percent of local youth did not smoke. The newest survey reports
that 89 percent of youth did not use tobacco in the past 30 days when they
were surveyed.

"It shows the program is working; something is helping," Kammin said.

One Ballard High School senior said the statistics don't tell the real
story.

Toby Bartlett, of Huxley, is 19-years-old and quit his one pack-a-week
smoking habit eight months ago. He estimates that 40 percent of his
classmates smoke and 70 percent drink alcohol. As for drug use, he said, use
of Ballard's most common drug (in his opinion), marijuana, is down.

"I didn't think the statistics were really true," Bartlett said. "They're
not very accurate."

Bartlett said he is using the survey to facilitate communication between his
classmates on the problems they face.

"Awareness has gone up but I think it needs to go up more," Bartlett said.

Story County Juvenile Court Services handled 167 cases in 1999 that were
drug- and alcohol-related, compared to the 212 in 1998, according to
Director Tom Southard.

"We have a pretty white collar, pretty educated county," Southard said. "We
have a lot of effort put into prevention and I think it's a payoff.

"It's a community where parents are pretty well-educated."

Belitsos said YSS workers will use the statistics to further attack the
problem. The numbers will be used to modify prevention programs, apply for
grants and target sectors of children that need help.

"It's a big step because it tells us we're in the right direction," Belitsos
said. "But there are too many kids who are throwing their life away."

About the survey

The Iowa Youth Survey was prepared by the Iowa Consortium for Substance
Abuse Research and Evaluation at the University of Iowa in 1999. The group
sought input from all school districts and all students in grades six
through 12 in every Iowa county. The group also compiled data from
alternative schooling programs.

Survey questionnaires were completed in 329 of Iowa's 375 school districts
for a total of 85,552 responses statewide. Colo-Nesco was the only school
district in Story county that did not participate.

The survey was funded by the Iowa Department of Public Health, division of
substance abuse and health promotion; the Iowa Department of Education;
Governor's Alliance on Substance Abuse; Department of Human Rights, Criminal
and Juvenile Justice Planning and Statistical Analysis Center; The Higher
Plain Inc.