DRUG-ABUSE EFFORTS SHOULD TARGET PERCEPTIONS

.Substance-abuse prevention efforts in Scott County should focus on
increasing the perception of youth access to alcohol, tobacco and other
illegal drugs and raising awareness of problems from abuse of those
products, survey results suggest.

Responses to the survey, sent via mail to 611 random Scott County
households earlier this year, showed that the 214 respondents hold norms
and attitudes about drug use similar to a statistical standard set by other
Midwest communities, according to the survey done by the Minnesota
Institute of Public Health.

However, the responses also show that Scott County residents have a lower
perception of the problems associated with substance abuse as well as a
lower perception of the easy access youth have to the products, the survey
states.

The results still show prevention efforts - based on a survey with similar
results taken more than two years ago - have worked to improve what the
latest study suggests, said Joe Cowley, the clinical director of the Center
for Alcohol and Drug Services Inc., or CADS.

"I think it says, 'Continue what you're doing,' " he said.

Over the past two years, CADS has run programs that teach clerks how to
check identifications for tobacco and alcohol purchases, explore the
opportunities for youth to purchase alcohol via the Internet and teach
youth how those products affect their health, he said.

CADS also has worked with community groups to remove environmental
influences, such as where alcohol and tobacco are placed in stores and
exposure to advertising, he said.

"We have looked at how are we trying to help kids look at the issue of
health, how do we help them make long-term attitude and behavioral
changes," he said. "If we keep kids off drugs, we keep kids safe, we save
money because we don't have to treat them later or house them later if they
commit crimes."

The survey - one of 27 funded by a statewide grant - also said that support
and commitment to drug- and alcohol-prevention programs, as well as
attitudes that substance abuse is not OK for young people and adults,
provide a strong foundation for those programs in Scott County.

"We have a community that really understands the importance of prevention
services and understands how that impacts our children, our community and
the health of our community," he said.

However, people do not do anything about a problem if they do not perceive
it, said Margaret Sterling, a senior prevention specialist at CADS.

Many underage adolescents can pass for 18 years old, adults do buy alcohol
and cigarettes for kids and alcohol is in just about everyone's home, she said.

"We've even had kids say its easier to get marijuana than alcohol" because
drug dealers do not care about the age of the buyer, she said.