STATE BEHIND NATIONAL AVERAGE

Drug Use Stats Still Cause For Concern

Alabama students lag slightly behind the national average in a
category that should please parents and those who work with or care
about young people. The number of Alabama students in grades six
through 12 who used an illegal drug or drank alcohol last year was 3
percent less than the national average.

But the statewide survey released by the Alabama Department of
Education found 21 percent of students in grades six through 12
admitted using an illegal drug in the last year and 47 percent drank
alcohol.

More than one-fifth of Alabama students in or above grade six used
drugs and almost half drank alcohol. For parents, that should be a
sobering statistic.

Out of 46,601 sixth-graders surveyed, almost 12 percent said they use
tobacco products - also something that should be of great concern for
parents. Consider how many adult smokers say now that they started
smoking as children, along with all the health risks associated with
tobacco use. In Alabama, the smoking rate is higher than the national
average, with 32 percent of students in grade sixth through 12 saying
they used tobacco. Nationally, only 30 percent did.

Of those sixth-graders, more than 16 percent said they drank beer in
the past year, most reported getting intoxicated when they did. Almost
5 percent of the sixth-graders said they used marijuana; 2 percent
used cocaine and 2 percent said they used hallucinogens in the past
year.

This is not teenagers - sixth-graders are generally 11 or 12 years
old. These are children too young to drive and one would assume, with
greater supervision than older students.

A press release accompanying the PRIDE survey results states the
survey shows a "large gap between what parents think their children
are doing, what they are actually doing - and more importantly - when
and where they're doing it."

Most parents probably worried about where their teens go and what kind
of dangers they may be exposed to while outside parental
supervision.

The survey results indicate parents need to consider how and where
their "tweens" are spending time and whether they are in places where
they may be exposed to alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.