STUDENTS' ALCOHOL, DRUG USE EXAMINED

Alcohol and marijuana use among Marblehead High School and Middle School
students is above the national average, according to statistics gleaned
from anonymous questionnaires and compiled by School Department Nursing
Leader and registered nurse Paula Dobrow.

She attributes the higher numbers to the availability of the substances,
the availability of money to students and their large amounts of free time,
all of which echo comments made by educational consultant and adolescent
drug use lecturer Michael Nerney in a speech in March.

Among Marblehead High School students (grades nine to 12), 40.7 percent
reported using marijuana at some point in their lifetimes. The figure is
7.8 percent in upper middle school (grades seven and eight), which averages
out to 24.25 percent between both groups. That figure is higher than the
national average of 22 percent in 2003. (Statistics from different
jurisdictions become available at different times, but it is possible to
see some trends between them.) Current or active use among local high
school students is 20.6 percent; among upper middle school students it is
2.5 percent, with no comparable national statistic available.

Marijuana use has been dropping at MHS since 2001, but it has been up and
down over the last 15 years. Current marijuana use increased from 15
percent in 1991 to 26 percent in 1997 and 28 percent in 1998 then dropped
to 22 percent in 2005. Lifetime use was 52.8 percent in 1998, 52.3 percent
in 2001 before dropping to 40.7 percent in 2005. Dobrow attributed the
fluctuation to the fact that "some classes seem to be a little wilder than
others" and said tragedies and new programs trigger changes. She credits
recent wellness programs for the drop.

Among upper middle school students lifetime marijuana use dropped from 19.2
percent in 1998 to 10.2 percent in 2001 before reaching the level of 7.4
percent in 2005.

"We're looking for a delay in the onset age of use," Dobrow said. "If the
age a kid starts using rises, it's considered a positive."

Alcohol use is also above the national average, but dropping. Current use
among high school students in Marblehead is 48.4 percent; nationally, it
was 45 percent in 2003. Students engaging in "binge drinking" at MHS
numbered 29 percent for grades nine to 11 and 35 percent for grades 10 and
11 alone. The national 2003 binge drinking number was 28 percent.

Current alcohol use at the upper middle school is 17.6 percent, lifetime
use 42 percent and binge drinking 5.3 percent. Lifetime use at MHS is 74.5
percent, at upper middle school 42 percent, with no national statistic at
either level in the report.

Like marijuana, alcohol use has gone up and down. Current use at MHS was 58
percent in 1999, 63 percent in 2001, before dropping to 48 percent in 2005.
The national number is 45 percent. Dobrow's report called the drop "a
significant decrease."

Binge drinking at MHS was 38 percent in 1999, 45 percent in 2001 and 29
percent in 2005.

Dobrow feels the good news is that "a lot of kids are not participating in
risky behavior." She said students would often drink or use marijuana based
on "what the community looks like. A lot of parents are conflicted about
marijuana use at this age. They think it's the same as it was when they
dabbled at that age, but it's not the same drug."

She also said the students received mixed messages about alcohol when
parents tell them it's OK to drink at their own home, but not at a
friend's; or it's OK to drink while on vacation, but not when they get
back. Nerney said the same thing about the potency of marijuana and the
mixed messages regarding use.

Another mixed message, she feels, is the notoriety kids receive when they
are caught drinking or smoking. She called it a "positive reward for risky
behavior. They get headlines. Even if their names aren't in the paper, it's
pretty easy to figure out who it was."

As for the accuracy of the numbers, Dobrow said, "We've been giving the
same set of tests over time. There may be some exaggeration, but not enough
to be statistically significant."

"Certainly some kids exaggerate, but year after year the numbers are within
range of what the people who analyze the numbers anticipate they'll be,"
added former School Committee member Larry DiGiammarino, who heard Dobrow's
report on alcohol and marijuana use to the School Committee at his last
meeting April 28. "Whether these numbers are truly accurate is not the
issue, however. We know unacceptable behavior is starting at younger and
younger ages. Even if the numbers dip, that's still an issue. No one is
disputing something needs to be done."