STUDENT SURVEY SHOWS WIDESPREAD DRUG USE

Report Could Help Officials Direct Help To At-Risk Youth

Students in Lexington and across the state are at the greatest risk of
beginning to use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs regularly between the
ages of 12 and 15, according to a survey that measured substance abuse
among students in Fayette County and 73 other Kentucky school districts.

Overall, the self-reported survey showed that varying percentages of
Lexington and Kentucky sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders reported
that they drank alcohol, smoked marijuana or cigarettes, had been drunk or
high at school, or abused prescription drugs.

People who work to stop substance abuse in Kentucky, such as Donna Bernier
of Bluegrass Prevention Center, said they plan to use the survey results to
help them learn which students are most at risk, what issues to discuss
with parents, and how to tell city and state administrators where
assistance is needed most.

Bernier said that while the survey will help her plan prevention
strategies, the results offer troubling information. Effects of juvenile
substance abuse will appear in the juvenile justice system, in school
performance and in children's bodies, Bernier said.

The Kentucky Incentives for Prevention Survey, released this spring,
analyzed anonymous questionnaires filled out by 8,536 students in grades
six, eight, 10 and 12 last fall in Fayette County. Overall, about 9,300
students were enrolled in the district in those grades, meaning about 92
percent completed the survey.

In 73 districts across the state, 51,761 students completed the survey,
which was prepared by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in
Louisville. Most of the survey questions asked students to report substance
abuse over the past 30 days.

Some of those who fight juvenile substance abuse said they were surprised
at the number of students who reported abusing prescription drugs,
including narcotics.

Across the state, 13 percent of 12th-graders and 12 percent of 10th-
graders who returned the survey said they abused prescription drugs.

In Fayette County, 10 percent of 12th-graders and 7 percent of 10th-
graders said they abused prescription drugs.

Social workers who discussed the survey at a recent meeting said binge
drinking is another concern.

About one in three 12th-graders across the state and in Fayette County said
they'd recently had five or more drinks in a row. One in five Lexington
10th-graders and one in four 10th-graders across the state reported binge
drinking.

And Fayette County 12th-graders were ahead of their peers for reported
marijuana use. About one in four Lexington high school seniors said they
had smoked marijuana. Across the state, about one in five reported recent
marijuana use.

In Lexington, 17 percent of 10th-graders surveyed said they smoked
marijuana. Across the state, 19 percent of 10th-graders reported marijuana use.

About one in 10 8th-graders in Lexington and across the state reported
smoking marijuana, compared with 2 percent of sixth-graders.

"It really is a large percentage of our children," said Nancy Rawlings,
chairwoman of the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy Board.

Rawlings and other social workers noted that the numbers in many categories
jump as students enter 10th grade. That might be because students in 10th
and 12th grades become more aware of the illegal substances available, can
drive to get drugs or alcohol and may be less afraid of their parents'
reprimands, they said.

Some students reported that they didn't just participate in substance abuse
in their spare time. About one in four 10th- and 12th-graders in Lexington
and across the state reported being drunk or high in school.

About one in 10 eighth-graders said they had attended school under the
influence of drugs or alcohol, compared with about 3 percent of sixth- graders.

Students also reported smoking cigarettes. About one out of four Lexington
12th-graders and one of three 12th-graders across the state said they
smoked cigarettes. One out of three 10th-graders across the state reported
smoking cigarettes, compared with one in five Lexington 10th-graders.

Although drug use is more of a problem among 10th-through 12th- graders,
fewer students in those grades completed the survey than in the sixth and
eighth grades. The response rate among 10th-graders was lowest.

Despite the number of students who reported abusing drugs and alcohol,
between 80 and 99 percent of those surveyed said their parents would
disapprove of the behavior.

Rawlings said parents can't rely on social workers or educators to fix the
problem.

Bernier agreed. "This is a community issue," she said.