STUDENT DRINKING EXCEEDS NATIONAL AVERAGE

Study Also Shows Higher Pot Smoking Rate At Pembroke High

PEMBROKE - Nearly half of Pembroke High School students have drunk
alcohol and more than a quarter have smoked marijuana in the last
month, according to figures from a regional health advocacy group.

The Southeast Center for Healthy Communities study found that 48.3
percent of Pembroke High students had used alcohol and 25.7 percent
had smoked marijuana in the past 30 days.

Studies done at the high school and middle school and a survey of
parents were discussed during a Pembroke Community Youth Alliance
meeting on Thursday.

The study, which surveyed roughly 90 percent of students, puts high
school students in Pembroke above national averages in alcohol and
marijuana use by between 3 and 4 percentage points. The students
also were above the Massachusetts average for alcohol use but below
the state average for marijuana use.

Cigarette smoking by Pembroke students was also below the state
average, at 17.5 percent of students.

Most troubling for Pembroke High Principal Ruth Lynch was that 30
percent of high school seniors said they had driven under the
influence in the past 30 days. The state average is 17 percent.

"The number of students that are drinking and driving, I'm very
concerned about that," Lynch said. "I've worked in other high
schools, and the most painful experience a principal can go through
is the death of a student, and when it is related to drugs or
alcohol, it's just tragic."

A meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Pembroke
Public Library so residents can talk about how to respond to the
survey results.