STUDY SAYS STATE'S TEENS ARE USING LESS ALCOHOL AND DRUGS THAN IN '90S

California teenagers are drinking less and taking drugs less than they
did a decade ago, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by the state Attorney General's Office, says
that drug, alcohol and tobacco use among seventh-, ninth- and
11th-graders has declined after several years of increases in the 1990s.

In addition, more teens are avoiding alcohol, drugs and tobacco
altogether, the California Student Survey indicates.

That news came as no surprise to Danny Bracco, 18, who graduated from
Thousand Oaks High School in June.

For a lot of teens, drugs and alcohol just aren't worth the effort and
risk, Bracco said. Many parents are vigilant; parties are regularly
broken up; and some students are so consumed with getting into
college, they don't have time for partying anyway.

"It's out there, but it's just not worth the trouble," Bracco said.
"Even in this town, you can have fun anyway."

Not everyone, though, is convinced the news is all
good.

Particularly in affluent communities such as Thousand Oaks and Oak
Park, kids are still regularly drinking at weekend parties, educators
said, even if drug use has declined somewhat.

"For our community, it would be foolish to say that alcohol use has
gone down," said Richard Simpson, an assistant superintendent in the
Conejo Valley Unified School District. "It has not."

Marijuana Use Drops

In addition to asking randomly selected students about their drug,
alcohol and tobacco use over the past six months, the survey asked
about violence at school, including dating violence.

Some of the findings:

* Abstinence is at an all-time high. Nearly three-fourths of
seventh-graders, half of ninth-graders and more than one-third of
11th-graders had not used any alcohol or drugs in the six months
before the survey.

* Marijuana use dropped by at least 1 percentage point in all three
grades. Eleventh-graders showed the greatest decline, from 38.7
percent to 33.9 percent.

* Alcohol use among seventh-graders dropped from 29 percent to 26
percent, but held steady among ninth- and 11th-graders.

* Fewer teens are using Ecstasy, a party drug that is used at
all-night parties known as raves.

* Dating violence was up slightly, with 8 percent of 11th-graders
reporting they had been hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend
or girlfriend over the past year. That was up from 7 percent two years
ago.

Those findings are confirmed in a similar study, the statewide Healthy
Kids Survey, which also showed an overall drop in drug and alcohol use
among teens locally. Districts received the results of that survey
earlier this year.

So Why the Decline?

One explanation may be that society is paying more attention to the
problem. The state, for example, now requires that schools spend six
to 10 hours each year in each grade educating students about drugs,
alcohol and tobacco.

Many Programs in Schools

In Ventura County, that translates into a slew of programs ranging
from one-time assemblies to monthlong units in health and science classes.

Across the county, students learn about drugs and alcohol in their
mandatory freshman health class. Then districts figure out ways to
keep spreading the message as kids continue through high school.

In Simi Valley, for example, students study the effects of addiction
on the brain in their biology classes.

And in Ventura, seniors study drunken-driving cases in their
government classes.

In addition to educating kids, some districts, including Conejo
Valley, bring drug-sniffing dogs onto high school campuses
unannounced, hoping they'll serve as a deterrent.

Then there are the programs meant to scare kids straight, programs
such as "Every 15 Minutes," which simulates a car crash and its
after-effects, including breaking the news to parents.

But Bracco, the Thousand Oaks High grad, isn't convinced that such
programs make much of an impression on teens.

So What Does?

Losing a friend or classmate in a real car accident.

"It's hard to tell what reaches people," Bracco said. "But you know
that has to have an impact."

On the Net: More results from the survey are available at:
http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navid=254.