AGENCIES STRIVE TO PUT DRUG PROGRAMS IN PLACE

Youth advocates are trying to stem the destructive drug use trend in
Clarion County.

CLARION -- Youth advocates in Clarion County are moving into the
next phase of a concerted effort to stem the disturbing and
destructive drug use trend in the area.

Sheila Snyder, executive director of the Clarion County Family Net,
said her agency is working with the Penn State Cooperative Extension
to secure grant funding for prevention programs in local schools.

It will likely involve the formation of a task force with
partnerships in the county.

The development follows the recent release of the Pennsylvania Youth
Survey that compiled the results of participating Clarion County
school districts.

The report showed drug use among children and youth is a major
problem in the county with nearly 10 percent of sixth-grade students
having experimented with illicit drugs.

Students were surveyed during the 2005-06 school year with 1,194
valid responses received.

Tenth- and 12th-grade students reported experimentation at more than
18 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

Snyder said the accuracy level of the survey has been rated very high.

She and cooperative extension representative Patricia Anderson spoke
this week with officials in the Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District.

"There are some opportunities for grants out there," Anderson said.

After-school programs can help with prevention, "but you don't see
results right away," Snyder said.

Rewards can be offered for pro-social involvement and community
opportunities, officials said.

The state youth surveys are to be administered every two years.

Clarion County Drug & Alcohol Administration says poly-substance
abuse and dependence -- which involves using more than one substance
- -- is a trend for youth in the county.

Alcohol and tobacco are still the two most abused drugs among
students in the county, according to the report.

Adolescents who abuse alcohol are "four times more likely to become
an alcoholic," Snyder said.

The drug and alcohol administration says it is seeing an increase of
heroin use with Clarion County at twice the state average.

Other illicit drugs being used by students in the area include
cocaine, crack cocaine, hallucinogens, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and steroids.

The use of each drug is higher in the county than the state average,
officials said.

Results from each individual district are kept confidential.

However, Snyder said, it appears each district has its own drug of choice.

"For one school it was heroin, one it was crack, another cocaine and
another ecstasy," she said.

Prevention efforts can stop these trends, Snyder said.

But "you have to work in all domains for it to be effective," the
director said.

This includes schools, community and family.

Those individuals who are involved with religion and have a belief
in moral order are less likely to do drugs, Snyder said.

"It's about teaching right from wrong," she said.

The drug with the highest reported use was steroids at 1.7 percent
of Clarion County youth, which is four times the state average.

Children as young as 11 and 12 years old are reporting
experimentation with many different illegal drugs in the county.

There is also a growing problem with the abuse of prescription medications.

"This is a huge health hazard across the nation," Snyder said.

Community meetings were held at all seven school districts in
February and March.

"Although attendance was low at the community meetings . . . good
discussion was provided and some interesting ideas were presented,"
Snyder said.

Agency officials are still in the process of compiling the results,
she said, "and we have had several requests for results."

They will be posted online at clarion.extension.psu.edu and
www.clarioncountyspromise.org.