CASH, TIME IS TROUBLE

Boredom and a wad of cash can lead young Americans to substance abuse,
according to a Columbia University survey released Tuesday.

The study also found that students at smaller schools and those attending
religious schools are less likely to abuse narcotics and alcohol.

Young people ages 12 to 17 who are frequently bored are 50 percent likelier
than those not often bored to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs,
said the study by the university's National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse.

Liz Wear, director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free DeKalb County, agreed
with much of the study's findings.

"Too little supervision, too much money and too much time on their hands is
an invitation to use drugs," Wear said.

Those with $25 or more a week in spending money are nearly twice as likely
as those with less to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs, and more than
twice as likely to get drunk, the study said.

"Those who participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to
drink or use drugs because they stay busier. However, this doesn't mean
football players, cheerleaders or band members never use drugs," Wear said.

High stress can also take its toll - kids suffering from stress are twice as
likely as those with low stress to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal
drugs, results showed. High stress was experienced more among girls more
than boys, with nearly one in three girls saying they were highly stressed
compared with fewer than one in four boys.

Much of the stress was attributed to academic worries and pressures to have
sex and take drugs.

"Girls are more likely to abuse prescription medications found in the home,"
Wear said. "We are hearing about a dangerous new trend in parties where
everyone brings whatever drugs they can get out of the parents' medicine
cabinet. For $2, you grab a handful of drugs. In Hoover, six girls overdosed
on darvocet. Birmingham has been classified as a high incidence use area for
heroin. We aren't far behind when you can easily drive there to go shopping
for the day."

Teens are also becoming more creative and turning to harder drugs.

"It's shocking to me that some of our kids already know the latest drug
trends," Wear said. "Crystal meth is becoming more and more of a problem
among young people. Their parents are cooking it at home, so they can get it
easily. I heard of one child whose family used marijuana to come down from
meth. To punish the girl, her parents withheld her marijuana. How is that
for parenting?"

Kids at schools with more than 1,200 students are twice as likely as those
at schools with less than 800 students to be at high risk of substance
abuse, according to the study, and Catholic and other religious schools are
likelier to be drug-free than public schools.

"But," Wear added, "the 'good kids' are the largest growth area for drugs."

The average age of first use is about 12 years for alcohol, 12 years for
cigarettes and almost 14 years for marijuana, the center found.

Paula Thomas, a local drug treatment expert, said other factors contributing
to substance abuse include economic deprivation, accepting attitudes toward
drug use, family conflicts, academic failure, gang involvement, and being
around friends who use drugs. Transitions such as the Hispanic influx can
also be a factor, she said, as students have trouble adapting.

The key for parents is to teach healthy beliefs, bond with their children
and provide opportunities to learn skills for which they can earn
recognition, Thomas said.

QEV Analytics interviewed 1,987 kids aged 12 through 17 and 504 parents, 403
of whom were parents of interviewed kids, for the survey. They were
interviewed from March 30 to June 14. The margin of error was plus or minus
2 percentage points for kids and plus or minus 4 percentage points for
parents.

The study also found fewer teens are associating with peers who use
substances - 56 percent have no friends who regularly drink, up from 52
percent in 2002; 68 percent have no friends who use marijuana, up from 62
percent in 2002; 70 percent have no friends who smoke cigarettes, up from 56
percent in 2002.

- - The Associated Press contributed to this story