SURVEY: AT LEAST 8 STUDENTS HAVE USED GLUE, GAS TO GET HIGH

Murphy - Inhalants such as glue and gasoline - most of which is
obtained and used at school - are becoming an increasing problem as
the drugs of choice among Cherokee County's fifth-graders, as
revealed in an anonymous survey. In December, 3.1 percent of 258
fifth-graders - or about 8 students - anonymously surveyed by the
Cherokee County Drug Coalition admitted to having used inhalants
within the past year, slightly higher than the national average of
2.9 percent for students of the same age group.

The majority of the students were 10 and 11 years old at the time of
the survey. Dr. John Crosby, coalition director, shared the results
of the elementary school Pride survey with community members at the
coalition's March 13 meeting. Several attendees expressed a concern
that now is the time to act, as drug experimentation increases
dramatically among middle school students. "We find that the sooner
[students] use gateway drugs, the greater the likelihood they will
use other drugs," Crosby said. "The drug of choice in fifth grade is
glue." Students also are experimenting with tobacco products such as
cigarettes and chewing tobacco (1.6 percent); alcohol, including beer
and hard liquor (3.2 percent); and marijuana (0.8 percent).

"In fifth grade is where they're trying stuff.

If you can prevent it then, it will have a tremendous impact by the
time they get to seventh- and eighth-grade," said Mitchell Shields,
director of missions for the Truett Baptist Association.

Fifth-graders who used inhalants to get high said they most often get
it at school (0.8 percent) compared to at home (0.4 percent), a
friend's house (0 percent) and other places (0.4 percent).

Fifteen percent of fifth-graders said it is "easy to get" glue or
gas. Another 6.8 percent said it is hard to get, but 78.1 percent
said they cannot get inhalants at all.

Three students admitted to using inhalants at school once and two
said they have used at school two or more times.

Furthermore, four students said they have used inhalants outside of
school more than two times. Most students who have used drugs
indicated that they only use them about once a year. But 2.4 percent
of fifth-graders said they use inhalants at least monthly, with
another 1.2 percent using weekly. However, the good news is that more
than 96 percent of students said they did not use tobacco, alcohol or
inhalants within the past year, while 99 percent have not smoked
marijuana or used other drugs. As with middle and high school
students, a direct correlation was found between students who stay
away from drugs and those who are involved in church activities, who
make good grades, stay out of trouble in school and whose parents
talk to them about the dangers of drug use. Consistently, more than
85 percent of fifth-grade students believe tobacco, alcohol,
marijuana, inhalants and other drugs are harmful to their health. At
least 95 percent of students know their parents would not approve of
using such substances, and slightly less than 90 percent said their
friends would not approve, either.

"The question is, now that we have this data, I think we're at a
point now where we know we're sick, but what is the cure?" Crosby
said. Sue Lynn Ledford, director of the Safe Schools, Healthy
Students project, said the survey is a much-needed tool to find out
what drugs are being used and where, and how to put a stop to them.
The individual results from each school will be shared with the
respective principal so he or she can start targeting the drug use
tendencies among their own students. Crosby said a Mendez curriculum,
which integrates the idea of making good choices and respecting one's
body and mind, will become a part of regular classroom teaching in
all grades starting next year. Ledford hopes the church community
will get involved by continuing to offer events and groups for youth.

"Kids involved in sports teams, civic groups and faith-based
activities are much less likely to be involved in using drugs and alcohol.

It's more a matter of reaching out to kids and youth," she said.
According to Pride Surveys, which has administered more than 10
million surveys to students, parents and teachers all over the
southeastern United States since 1982, early use of psychoactive
drugs by elementary age students is a dangerous fall out of the drug
culture that has plagued the nation during the past quarter century.

Use of mind-altering drugs by children and young adolescents can
hinder physical, educational and social development, and often leads
to severe problems of alcohol and drug dependency in junior and
senior high school.

Although tobacco and alcohol are legal drugs for adults, use by
children and adolescents places them at a high risk of becoming drug dependent.

Drug use also contributes to other problems such as teenage crime,
pregnancy, school dropouts and suicide. For details, visit
www.pridesurveys.com or call Crosby at 321-5415.