DRUG, ALCOHOL USE AMONG HIGH SCHOOL TEENS EXPLORED

HUNTSVILLE - The Forester ran a three-part series on drug use among
area high school students in 2010. The first article addressed
students' perception of drug use among their peers. We also looked at
the issue from the point of view of educators, police, families and
health care professionals.

The response to the series from readers was passionate. Some were
angry because they felt we were portraying teens and the schools in a
poor light.

Many others thanked us for giving them a starting point to discuss the
use of drugs with their children.

Through our research we found disturbing evidence that drug use in
Muskoka is higher than in the rest of the province and that many kids
aren't looking any further than their home medicine cabinet for the
increasingly popular abuse of prescription drugs.

"If you want drugs, just go to the high school." This is the statement
of a Grade 10 student from Huntsville High School in conversation with
the Forester in April.

"You can turn a corner in the hall and someone's selling drugs," he
said.

The student was hanging out at a local park with two friends on a
Sunday afternoon and they offered to share their experience of drug
and alcohol use among their peers.

Their stories mirror and exceed stats put out by the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health in its yearly status report on drug use
among children from Grades 7 through 12.

The study showed that "by far, the most commonly used drug is alcohol,
with 58.2 per cent of students reporting use during the 12 months
before the survey.

Cannabis is the next most common drug, with 25.6 per cent reporting
past year use.

The non-medical use of prescription opioid pain relievers, such as
codeine, Percocet, Percodan, Demerol, or Tylenol 3, ranks third at
17.8 per cent.

Tobacco ranks fourth, with 11.7 per cent reporting smoking cigarettes
during the past year."

Perhaps the most disturbing trend is the report that "20.3 per cent of
students report using at least one prescription drug non-medically
(without a doctor's prescription) during the past year."

OxyContin is a highly addictive prescription painkiller containing the
opioid oxycodone that delivers an initial rush of euphoria, much like
heroin, according to the centre. "In 2009 . we estimate that between
1.3 and 2.0 per cent of students use OxyContin . About 16,700 students
in Ontario."

They also reported there is no significant difference in non-medical
OxyContin use between males and females, but that use increases with
grade, peaking in Grade 11 at 2.9 per cent. The use of the drug is
most likely in the northern regions where it clocks in at 3.2 per cent
of the student population.

Drug councillors say the use of "oxy" is becoming increasingly popular
in Huntsville.

Young people take the pills from their parents or grandparents, crush
them and snort them up through their nose for immediate uptake into
the blood system.

We spoke to students from Huntsville High School and from
Bracebridge's public and Catholic high schools. None of them admitted
to using oxy or other "hard" drugs.

They all said they knew of students using the drugs and described
these students as "skids," "rampies," or from a more socially aware
female student, "the kids who've had a hard life."

Three boys, one each from Grades 9, 10 and 11 all admitted to drinking
alcohol and estimated that 99 per cent of their peers drink, with 80
per cent drinking regularly on weekends. This is often binge drinking
where the point of the exercise is to get drunk.

"Get wasted. That's the whole point. Then they put it up on Facebook.
It's so stupid," said one boy.

Other students we spoke with also said posting drunken images on
Facebook was the norm.

A Grade 11 student from Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School
said, "On a Friday or Saturday, you go on Facebook and a lot of them
are there, `Oh, I'm so drunk.' They're very open about it. People at
school go out of their way; they want to get sooo drunk - sick or
drunk out of control."

This student said neither she nor her friends have ever been offered
drugs, although she knows there are substances for sale in the school.

"It depends on the person you are and the people you're friends with.
My friends are not and never will be into it. There are people you
would never suspect taking . oxy, ecstasy.."

The boys said that 75 per cent of their male peers have tried smoking
pot and that easily half use it regularly. They felt that girls used
all drugs at about one-third the rate of boys.

"High school is the time when people are going to try stuff," said one
boy. "But you don't want to get sent to jail or whatever."

A Grade 11 girl spoke passionately about her friends having the self-
confidence to refuse all drugs.

"We care about school - we care about learning - we care about things
going on around us. We're global thinking over close-minded, self-
centred thinking. I would have the confidence to say no," she said.