INFORMATION CRITICAL TO FIGHTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

A report that local prevention specialists issued last week serves as a
testament to the diligent efforts going on locally to fight substance
abuse, as well as the tremendous amount of work left to be done.

The report was compiled and sent to state officials as part of the ongoing
effort to establish a Daviess County branch of the Kentucky Agency for
Substance Abuse Policy. Ky-ASAP is offering up to $50,000 to fund local
prevention and treatment efforts in helping to prioritize needs and reduce
duplication of services.

Clearly, an area of need locally is in data collection. The first step in
reaching any solution is identifying the problem. Yet, local prevention
specialists admit they don't have an accurate picture of the problem in
some areas because of gaps in the information available.

That's not a knock on RiverValley Prevention Center, the agency working to
establish Ky-ASAP. Specialists at that agency have gone to great lengths to
identify needs in this process. There are simply areas where information is
either tough to gather, or in some cases where the information is
available, it isn't being released by certain agencies or institutions.

There is little information on adult drug and alcohol use. An area of
particular concern is that only the city schools currently make information
on use among youths available.

To make any real lasting impact on substance abuse, efforts have to be
concentrated on future generations. It's imperative that prevention
specialists, even the entire community, have an idea of what problems young
people face, and what they are using and abusing, so that these issues can
be dealt with.

Those working to form the Ky-ASAP board would like the Daviess County and
Owensboro Catholic schools to participate in the Kentucky Youth Substance
Prevention Strategy, a statewide survey that allows for comparisons on
substance abuse. Owensboro Public schools already conduct the state survey.

The type of survey, however, is really irrelevant. What's important is that
schools have some method for determining the extent of drug and alcohol
use, and that they share that information with local prevention
specialists. The tendency may be to keep such information under wraps, to
be dealt with in-house, but that's not the most effective way to tackle the
problem.

Prevention specialists say the information they do have will serve as the
starting point for developing a community action plan. Here's some of what
is known: 28.3 percent of students ages 12 to 17 have tried marijuana,
including 16 percent in the past month; 46 percent had tried cigarettes, 19
percent in the past month; and nearly 50 percent have tried alcohol, 21.8
percent in the past month. Those numbers are in line with a study Owensboro
Mercy Health System conducted in 2000.

Through the process of establishing the Ky-ASAP board, needs are being
identified, and efforts are being properly focuses on those areas. It's an
indicator of how important this program -- combined with community support
- -- will eventually be to combating substance abuse in Daviess County.