SMOKING, DRINKING, DRUGS DROP IN CHATHAM SCHOOLS

PITTSBORO -- Fewer students in the Chatham County Schools are using
tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, according to a survey given to
fifth-through 12th-graders.

Eleven percent of students said they used tobacco within the 30 days before
being surveyed, down 21 percent from 2002, the last time the survey was
given. Alcohol use was down 6 percentage points to 16 percent, and
marijuana use was down 20 percentage points to 8 percent.

Alcohol and drug use is at its lowest level since 1990, according to the
survey given to 3,800 students in February, school officials said. "It's
been very positive," said George Gregor-Holt, a student assistant counselor
with the district. "The thing I am most excited about is the correlation
between marijuana and tobacco use, and the decreases we have noticed." For
years, Gregor-Holt said, district officials have known that students who
use tobacco are more likely to use marijuana. So, he said, the district has
been working to reduce marijuana use by decreasing tobacco use. The survey,
given every year since 1990, asks students anonymously -- on a bubble sheet
- -- about what kids of drugs they use, how and where they use them, when
they started, and what influenced them.

The surveys are passed out in classrooms, usually during the district's
drug awareness week.

"This is a huge effort on the part of the school system and requires all
principals and teachers to take time from their busy schedules to
administer the surveys," said Darlene Cooley, the district's safe and
drug-free schools coordinator.

But the results, Gregor-Holt said, allow the district to see what area it
can improve upon. The schools plan to educate parents on the importance of
talking to their children about drugs, as a result of the survey, he said.
The percentage of parents who discuss the dangers of drugs often was 27
percent, up from 22 percent the year before, Gregor-Holt said. But 76
percent of students surveyed said a parent has helped them reduce drug use
- -- showing school officials that parent influence matters, Gregor-Holt said.

"If we could get more parents to talk about the dangers of drug use, the
numbers would go down more," he said. "Students say when their parents talk
to them about drugs, it has an effect."

DARE, a drug prevention program used in the Chatham schools, also has an
effect, according to the survey. Just more than 60 percent of the students
surveyed said DARE had helped them resist use.

Seven percent of students said they use drugs before school, down 2
percentage points from the year before. Six percent said they use drugs in
school, down 1 percentage point from the year before. Thirty percent of
students said it's extremely or fairly easy to get drugs in school.
Gregor-Holt said the district is working to reduce that number -- but it's
difficult to catch every student carrying drugs, he pointed out.
"[Students] are very sneaky," he said.