ADOLESCENT DRUG USE MUST BE DEALT WITH

We are living in scary, troubled times.

Reports indicate that drug and alcohol abuse among adolescents in the area
is on the rise.

According to a survey by PRIDE taken by 4,600 students in the city and
county school system, the number of eighth-graders who said they have used
various types of drugs and alcohol has risen in the past year. This should
serve as a wake-up call to our community. Twenty-one percent of students
revealed that they smoked cigarettes, 25.7 percent drank beer, 28.7 percent
drank wine coolers, 20.7 liquor, 3.3 percent used cocaine and 2.2 used
hallucinogens. These are shocking statistics and are evidence that not
enough is being done to curb our youngsters from using these dangerous
substances. These numbers are slightly lower than the national average, but
they are still too high.

"We have a problem here," said Nancy Bertuleit, safe and drug-free schools
specialist for Warren County Schools. "I want to be wrong more than ever,
but I think that we are on the verge of the worst drug era ever." Cocaine
use is one of the more unsettling numbers from this survey. Fourteen percent
of high school seniors admitted to using cocaine, which is 5.3 percent
higher than the national average.

As a community we should ask ourselves why the problem here is greater than
elsewhere.

Bertuleit blames the availability of drugs for the higher numbers. She said
that the high number of methamphetamine labs in Warren County has lowered
the price of cocaine, which makes it easier for kids to buy it. Bertuleit
pointed out that these are conservative numbers, which means more kids are
probably using drugs and alcohol than the survey suggests.

"What this data suggests is that schools are a reflection of the community
and its problems," Bowling Green Independent Schools Superintendent John
Settle said. "We want to be honest about the availability of drugs, because
it continues to be something that plagues the community."

Settle is right. Whether it be through more parental involvement, community
involvement, more drug classes taught in our schools, or stricter law
enforcement, the problem must be drastically reduced.

The battle against substance abuse by our high-school and middle-school
students must be waged on many fronts.

Parental involvement is critical. Schools, law enforcement and courts all
have vital roles to play.

We must tackle this problem and not turn our backs on our children.