STATE OFFICIALS ARE SKEPTICAL OF NUMBERS

If Arizona has more kids smoking dope and dropping acid than the rest of
America, it's news to some skeptical government officials.

"I question the validity of the numbers," said Gov. Jane Hull, responding
to a federal survey that shows ghastly drug abuse rates among Arizona youth.

"It makes no sense," agreed Rick Romley, the Maricopa County attorney.

"I would look at all those figures very carefully," added Rex Holgerson,
executive director of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.

Those officials, and others, said they knew drug use was rising among
Arizona kids, but had no inkling that the rate is out of kilter with other
states.

Yet that's exactly what was revealed Friday in a National Household Survey
on Drug Abuse by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.

According to that report, one in six Arizona teenagers used illicit drugs
in the previous month compared to about one in 10 nationwide. Arizona youth
ages 12 to 17 also were nearly twice as likely to have used cocaine, LSD,
heroin or inhalants during the past year.

At Valley high schools, the statistics were hardly a revelation.

"I'm not sure if drug use is increasing, but I know last year they got
Izzy, the drug sniffing dog, into our school," said Kathleen Slahub, a
17-year-old at Paradise Valley High. "I go to a party and everyone is
drinking and you go to another little room and they have these bad drugs
all over the place and I don't know what they are."

Roger Taylor, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in
Phoenix, said he expected Arizona to exceed national drug abuse figures,
but was stunned to learn that it surpasses California by a large margin.

"I'm sure they were at least trying to make their best attempt at doing
some kind of plausible survey," Taylor added, "but it does surprise me."

Most officials said they cannot think of anything about Arizona that would
explain such a glaring discrepancy in drug use.

Joe Gfroerer, director of population surveys at the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, insisted the survey data are correct.

"It was done the same in Arizona as everywhere else," he said. "It's a
random sample."

Gfroerer later acknowledged that there were differences in the Arizona poll
because a larger sample was needed to obtain statistically significant
numbers.

Surveyors spoke to 24,505 adults and kids at homes nationwide.

California and Arizona were the only states listed separately in the annual
survey. They were isolated because of government interest in marijuana
initiatives adopted by voters in the two states during 1996.

Thus 4,415 subjects were interviewed in Arizona, and 4,360 people were
surveyed in California.

It is unclear why researchers would poll roughly the same number of people
in those states when California has seven times the population.

What is clear is that one-third of the total survey was done in just two
states. And Arizona, which accounts for about 2 percent of the U.S.
population, provided one-sixth of the responses.

Sam Vagenas, a drug-legalization proponent in Arizona, said he suspects the
survey was a botched attempt to smear marijuana legalization efforts.

"What this shows is that drug use has nothing to do with the medical
marijuana initiatives," Vagenas said.

Noting that Californians recorded below-average drug abuse even after years
of pot promotions, he added, "I think it's a shame that the government is
spending millions of dollars to promote their propaganda."

Among state leaders, only Attorney General Grant Woods seemed to accept the
federal survey results without question. He said that it's one more example
of how Arizona fares "extremely poorly in virtually every category relating
to children."

Woods said the state typically ranks among the worst in juvenile suicides,
delinquency, pregnancies, deaths and funding.

"I don't think it should be a surprise when you look at another negative
category and we're where we don't want to be," he added.

The assistant director of -TERROS -- an alcohol, drug and mental health
agency -- agreed that Friday's drug figures are supported by street
experience.

"Our adolescent groups are quite full," Cathy Torrez-Paddack said. "I know
one thing that accounts for large numbers of teen drug users is the many
homeless kids who are in Arizona."

Torrez-Paddack said the state is a magnet for homeless children.

"I suppose the mild weather draws them," she said. "They are hurting and
they use drugs to medicate those feelings, to numb themselves."

Torrez-Paddack said another factor involved in the high drug use among
Arizona teenagers is the proximity to the border with Mexico and the
subsequent high level of narcotics trafficking.

"The availability here is very great; most drugs are quite easy to get,"
she said.

In fact, the survey also showed that Arizona youth are less likely to
perceive risks in taking drugs, and more likely to have access.

Teenagers interviewed Friday seemed to confirm that finding.

Sam Garcia, a Camelback High senior, said it's part of the scene.

"Drugs are all over and easy if people want them . . . which I don't. A lot
of kids do it because they want to be accepted in a certain group," he
said. "Some get involved, of course to make money. I know a 16-year-old
girl who sells crystal speed and gets a lot of customers."

Slahub, the Paradise Valley High student, added: "The big dopers at our
school mostly keep to themselves, hang out at lunch at the back tables in
the cafeteria. The meth freaks are rail-skinny and people say, "those kids
are tweakers.'

"There's a park close to school and you can see high schoolers exchanging
bags. If you know who to talk to, it's easy. Those of us who don't do
drugs, we're the nerds."

Authorities said they know of no national drug surveys that contain
state-by-state comparisons.

Arizona's Criminal Justice Commission conducts a biannual poll of substance
abuse among students, and those surveys suggest an even higher rate of use
than the federal report. But that data is not comparable because it covers
a different age range and methodology.

For instance, the 1997 Arizona survey shows that one in four high school
students interviewed last year had smoked dope in the previous month. Six
years earlier, one in eight had answered "yes."

Holgerson, the executive director, said classroom surveys are more accurate
than federal polls in homes where juveniles might be nervous about
admitting drug use in the presence of parents.

What makes that really scary, he added, is that the school survey doesn't
even count dropouts who are much more likely to use drugs.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan * Rechecked-by: Eric Ernst