SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE

BROOKSVILLE - Cigarette, marijuana and alcohol use is more common among
Hernando County's high school students than among those throughout the
state, according to a study released last week.

The study also shows that over the past four years high school-age drinking
has become progressively more common. Over that same period, high school
marijuana use in the county remained steady, with more than one in five
using in the past 30 days versus about one in six across Florida.

Those results have concerned school district officials, who are now
exploring potential solutions, including a mandatory, district-wide drug
testing policy for students who participate in sports, extracurricular
activities or use campus parking passes.

Officials considered rolling out mandatory drug tests about two years ago,
after seeing the 2002 results of the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey,
the same study whose 2004 results came out last Tuesday.

"Our survey results two years ago in Hernando County -- that's what started
it," said student services director Jim Knight. "We looked at the survey,
and we looked at ways we can address the problem."

Then, as now, the survey showed above average drug usage. But officials
later shelved the controversial drug testing proposal, primarily because
such widespread testing would prove prohibitively expensive in a district
of more than 20,000 students, Knight said.

But recently, the school district secured a $50,000 Florida Youth Alcohol
Initiative Grant from the state's Office of Drug Control that could be used
to defray the cost of testing.

Details about how a potential drug testing policy would work or whether the
school board would approve of such a policy remains uncertain.

The board was scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a drug-testing policy.
That meeting has now been postponed until April 19, so district officials
could collect more information to present to the board.

But barring cost concerns, passing such a policy seems possible, if not
likely. In interviews last week, three of five school board members said
they would favor some form of mandatory drug testing.

"I've never had a problem with drug testing," said school board chairman
Robert Wiggins. "My philosophy is you can test me every day of the week if
you want."

Board Vice-Chairman Jim Malcolm and member Sandra Nicholson both agreed.

Malcolm said he was concerned about a recent and noticeable rise in the
frequency of student arrests -- particularly for drug-related crimes.

"Apparently the kids aren't getting the message that this is just not going
to happen in our schools," Malcolm said. "If this will do anything to serve
as a deterrent to drug use, then I favor it."

Drug infraction tops the list of reasons for which students are expelled
within the school district, according to a study by the Hernando Today. The
study found that drug offenses accounted for 23 of the 64 expulsions that
went before the school board from the start of the 2003-2004 school year
through November 2004.

The state-sponsored study, the product of a multi-agency effort including
the Department of Children and Families and the Office of Drug Control,
showed that the county's high usage rates are concentrated within high schools.

About 49 percent of high school students reported drinking alcohol within
the past 30 days. Statewide, the rate was 42 percent.

County high school students were significantly more likely to smoke
cigarettes, with 23.9 percent reporting they had smoked a cigarette within
the past 30 days versus 15 percent statewide.

About 20.6 percent from the same age group reported past-30-day use of
marijuana, compared to 16.4 percent statewide.

But not all the findings of the survey, which is conducted biannually, were
negative.

The survey reported a four-year drop in alcohol, cigarette and marijuana
use among the county's middle school students to levels either at or below
the statewide average.

And high rate of cigarette smoking among high school students was trending
downward, with about 5 percent fewer reporting they smoked within the past
30 days in 2004 than in 2000.

The high school cigarette smoking rate fell 4.7 percent from 28.6 percent
to 23.9 percent.