Pubdate: Mon, 23 Oct 2000
Source: Stuart News, The (FL)
Copyright: 2000 E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  P.O. Box 9009, Stuart, FL 34995
Website: http://www.tcpalm.com/stuart/
Forum: http://www.tcpalm.com/extra.shtml
Author: Cindi Courbat

SURVEY RANKS COUNTY TEENS HIGH IN DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE

"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Pam Roebuck, responding to the news 
that substance abuse is up among Martin County teenagers.

Roebuck, an assistant state attorney who handles almost all of the county's 
juvenile cases, said the community should be concerned about the percentage 
of teens who are using illegal drugs.

The percentage of Martin County youth using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, 
is higher than anywhere else on the Treasure Coast, according to a recent 
survey by the state Department of Children and Families.

The degree of substance abuse among teenagers in Martin County is also 
significantly higher than Palm Beach County or state averages.

Martin County school officials find fault with the study and say local 
schools are effective in battling teenage alcohol and drug abuse.

More than half of Florida's youth reportedly have used alcohol at least 
once in their lives while in Martin County, 43.6 percent of middle school 
students and 81.6 percent of high school students reported using alcohol.

In St. Lucie County, 72.7 percent of high school students reported trying 
alcohol. In Palm Beach County, 54 percent of all middle and high school 
students reported alcohol use.

Current alcohol use was also assessed in the survey showing almost 
one-third (31 percent) of teens statewide had used alcohol in the past 30 days.

In Martin County, 40.1 percent of the youth surveyed said they had used 
alcohol in the past month.

Statewide, 8.8 percent of middle school students and 23.3 percent of the 
high school students admitted to binge drinking in the past two weeks. 
Again, the Martin County rates were higher. At the high school level, 38.3 
percent said they had consumed five or more drinks in one sitting during 
the two weeks prior to the survey.

The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey was a collaborative effort of the 
Florida departments of Health, Education, Children and Families, and 
Juvenile Justice, and the Florida Office of Drug Control. The survey was 
administered to students in grades six through 12 between December 1999 and 
February 2000. A total of 580 schools in 64 counties participated in the 
survey. A total of 65,246 surveys were processed.

Statewide, a higher percentage of survey respondents were female, but in 
Martin County, more of the participating students were male.

The local survey also indicated use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and 
inhalants among males was higher than among females. For example, 27.9 
percent of the males surveyed, compared to 19.4 percent females, reported 
binge drinking. A larger number of males (34.2 percent versus 31.3 percent 
females) also reported marijuana use.

According to the survey, 55.9 percent of Martin County's high school 
students have tried marijuana compared to 49.1 percent in St. Lucie and 
36.6 percent statewide. Local use of other substances, from inhalants to 
designer drugs, is also rising, and is already above the state average.

Trend not new

Roebuck said the high numbers are not alarming, as she has known about the 
substance abuse problem among Martin County youth for some time.

"I could have told you it's way above the national average," Roebuck said.

"Nobody thinks it's a problem here on a daily basis but I see it every 
day," she said.

Schools fight problem

Some Martin County school officials, however, say they aren't convinced.

Upon reviewing the initial survey results late last month, Diane Pierce, 
director of school improvement, said school officials disagreed with the 
findings.

"We have some things we want them to change," Pierce said without going 
into detail about what parts of the survey could be inaccurate. She was 
unavailable for additional comments.

Pierce said the district's drug-free schools program does a good job of 
steering young people away from drug and alcohol use. Martin County 
Sheriff's Detective Lt. Morgan Sprott, agrees.

"There are plenty of programs," said Sprott, who heads the Martin County 
School District's school police program.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, conducted at elementary 
schools throughout the district, is working, Sprott said.

Even so, Sprott said he is aware drug and alcohol use among Martin County 
teens is rising.

"Parents allow it, so it wouldn't surprise me," Sprott said. "There are 
plenty of programs, but without parental support to reinforce the message 
being said, we are just spinning our wheels."

On-campus crime reports show two students have faced drug paraphernalia and 
possession charges since classes began on Aug. 14 one student at Martin 
County High on Sept. 26 and one at Hidden Oaks Middle School on Oct. 2. 
Another student was arrested at Murray Middle School, on Oct. 5, and 
charged with possession of alcohol.

The number of students getting caught smoking on campus is on the rise, 
too. So far, eight students have been issued citations to appear in court 
for possession of tobacco at school. However, only one student has been 
arrested at Spectrum Junior Senior High, on Oct. 4.

Last year, school crime reports show marijuana arrests remained steady, 
but, according to Sprott, use of prescription drugs was up.

A report issued from the Department of Education covering the 1998-99 
school year shows 94 alcohol, tobacco and other-drug offenses were reported 
by on-site Martin County school administrators. More recent statistics 
aren't available.

A breakdown of individual schools shows Stuart Middle school had 22 
incidents, Hidden Oaks 11, Murray Middle School eight, and Indiantown 
Middle School reported one. Nineteen incidents were each reported at South 
Fork and Martin County high schools.

Not enough supervision?

Roebuck said part of the problem in Martin County is parents and those who 
work most closely with youth may be in denial.

"They don't think it's a problem because a lot of the drug use we see here 
is recreational," Roebuck said. "Children around here are afforded more and 
take advantage of that. What bothers me is the attitude that moderation is 
OK almost expected. That's the prevailing attitude among teens."

Unfortunately, it's also an attitude among too many Martin County adults, 
Roebuck said.

"They say its OK under a controlled environment," Roebuck said. "I'm not 
sure there's a strong enough safety net of parents who are countering that 
attitude. There needs to be a lot more alcohol education for parents and 
teens."

Link to affluence

According to the DCF survey, the increase in substance abuse statewide is 
most obvious among middle and upper socio-economic populations.

Compared to all other national ethnic groups, the findings show, African 
American youth have lower lifetime and past 30-day use for all substances 
sampled. At the state level, the lifetime usage for alcohol among African 
American youth was 39.5 percent; for white, non-Hispanic youth it was 58.7 
percent.

And, even if it's a hard pill for Martin County parents and educators to 
swallow, that also appears to be the finding in Martin County.

"I can show the arrests broken down by ZIP codes," said Roebuck.

Part of the problem in affluent communities, Roebuck said, is parents don't 
always give children the quality time and heartfelt attention they need.

"When a child has a problem, instead of talking about it, some parents 
around here will buy their kids a ski trip or a new toy," Roebuck said.

Support offered

Roebuck said she would welcome the opportunity to speak to groups of 
parents and educators on this issue such as through parent-teachers 
association meetings.

"Alcohol use contributes to loss of brain cells," Roebuck said. "And there 
are deaths and injuries related to driving. These things need to be 
absolutely reinforced."
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