CAPE BRETON STUDENTS ENJOY BOOZE: SURVEY

Island youth consume more alcohol than other Nova Scotia students; smoking
down provincially

Youth on Cape Breton drink more heavily than Nova Scotia students overall, a
survey of student drug use has found.

But fewer of Nova Scotia's students are smoking, which is boosting to 40 per
cent the number who are listed as not using any drug.

Cape Breton follows most of the provincial trends found in the 2002 drug use
survey released Tuesday by the Department of Health, noted Everett Harris,
director of Addiction Services with the Cape Breton and Guysborough
Antigonish Strait health authorities.

Provincially, alcohol use was down from 57 per cent in the 1998 survey to 52
per cent.

But, as other surveys of adult drug use, the findings indicate that while
Nova Scotians tend to be heavier drinkers than those in other provinces,
Cape Bretoners drink even more.

"What we've found in the student drug survey was equally bothersome -
occurrences of excessive drinking were more than the provincial averages and
we were concerned about that," Harris said.

"That's an area we're going to go after and really do some work on."

More than 4,300 Nova Scotia students in Grades 7, 9, 10 and 12 were sampled
for the survey, which asked students about their experiences with substance
use.

The survey was completed in collaboration with Dalhousie University's
department of community health and epidemiology, the Department of Education
and schools across the province.

The three major areas of concern are use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis,
Harris noted.

Provincially, smoking is down from 36 per cent of the students in 1998 to 23
per cent, the lowest level since the surveys began in 1991.

It's too early to say whether the reduction in smoking is due to increased
tobacco prices, Harris said, but he noted price has historically been the
most sensitive factor in youth smoking.

He also referred to changing public attitudes toward smoking, which is
reflected in increased smoke-free places legislation.

"We feel that reflects an overall public attitude about smoking that's
beginning to take hold," he said.

In the survey, 37 per cent of students reported using cannabis at least
once, with 16 per cent using it more often than once per month. Both figures
were on par with the 1998 survey.

Harris said one concern is the number of young people across the province
who engage in sexual activity while under the influence of a drug.

He noted that can result in behaviour such as not wearing condoms or
increased risk of multiple sex partners, which can pose other health
concerns. Of the 29 per cent of students who indicated they had intercourse
in the previous year, 35 per cent said they had unplanned sex while under
the influence of a substance.

The province recently announced $1.8 million to enhance prevention and
treatment programs for women and youth in rural areas. More than $500,000 of
the total will go to the Cape Breton and Guysborough Antigonish Strait
health districts.

"We're using that not just to provide our traditional services but also to
provide services that are more of an outreach nature, closer to where people
are, more accessible, and to influence people's choices at an early stage
rather than wait for serious problems to develop," Harris said.

Addictions Services' partners in those efforts will include local youth
clinics, public health offices and schools.

"Even though kids are experimenting, we're trying to intervene with them
sooner and get them to consider their choices," he said.

Harris called the survey an important tool in planning services for young
people.

The survey also showed that four per cent of Nova Scotia students had used
MDMA (ecstasy) at least once during the year; 12 per cent used psilocybin or
mescaline; 9.3 used non-prescription amphetamines; 7.5 per cent used
methylphenidate (Ritalin) without a prescription; 5.5 used LSD; 3.9 per cent
used cocaine or crack; 2.7 per cent used anabolic steroids; 1.6 per cent
used heroin.

Nov. 17 to 23 is Addiction Awareness Week.