Pubdate: Wed, 21 Aug 2002
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Michael Kranish, Globe Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?217 (Drug-Free Zones)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

MORE STUDENTS SAY SCHOOLS DRUG FREE

Yet Survey Finds Marijuana Easier To Get Than Beer

WASHINGTON -- The percentage of students between ages 12 and 17 who 
perceive that their schools are "drug free" has nearly doubled in the last 
four years to 63 percent, even though students said for the first time that 
it is easier to get marijuana than cigarettes or beer, according a private 
national survey released yesterday.

Like many drug surveys, the one by the National Center on Addiction and 
Substance Abuse at Columbia University was filled with good and bad news. 
On the positive side, the director of the study speculated that an 
information campaign linking drug dealers with terrorists has made drug use 
less appealing after the Sept. 11 attacks and, as a result, that has 
improved students' perceptions of their schools as drug free. But officials 
said the study is disturbing because marijuana continues to be easily 
available, even though marijuana use may have slightly declined. In one 
example, teenagers said marijuana is easier to buy than cigarettes or beer. 
Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed said they could acquire marijuana in 
an hour or less. It was the first time since the National Center on 
Addiction and Substance Abuse began its annual survey in 1996 that 
marijuana was said to be easier to acquire than cigarettes or beer.

Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said it was easiest to obtain 
marijuana, compared to 31 percent who said cigarettes and 14 percent who 
said beer.

One-fourth of those surveyed said they had tried marijuana. Separately, a 
federal study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 
47 percent of teenagers have smoked marijuana by the time they leave high 
school.

The most heartening finding for antidrug advocates was the conclusion that 
63 percent of those surveyed believe they attend drug-free schools. Four 
years ago, 31 percent of those surveyed said their schools were drug free.

The report did not say why the number of drug-free schools has increased so 
dramatically, but it said students at drug-free schools were twice as 
likely to report seeing a student using or selling illegal drugs. Joseph 
Califano, who oversaw the study as president of the National Center on 
Addiction and Substance Abuse, said the new perception may stem from a 
combination of increased educational campaigns and a changed national 
attitude following the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Most kids buy drugs from classmates, and this issue of being 'unpatriotic' 
or 'helping terrorists' may be cooling off the classmate drug sellers," 
Califano said. "They [drug dealers] may just not be as acceptable since 
Sept. 11. And parents may be more engaged in kids' lives since Sept. 11. 
I'm speculating. We really don't know for sure, but it is probably some of 
all of those things."

Glen Hanson, acting director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a 
federal agency, said it is not clear whether students perceive a school to 
be "drug free" only because there are signs proclaiming drug-free zones. 
But he said it is clear that increased education about the dangers of drug 
abuse has had an effect.

While lauding the improvements, Hanson cautioned that marijuana is still 
very easy to get at many schools."

Because one person says, 'My school is drug free,' that probably doesn't 
mean there never has been a marijuana cigarette smoked on the playground," 
Hanson said.

Since access to beer and cigarettes is restricted at the retail stage, 
Hanson said, youths have significant hurdles to obtaining them."

As far as marijuana is concerned, there is not any control there," he said. 
"If you want it, you can get it. That is not good news."

The survey was based on a telephone poll of 1,000 students conducted from 
December 2001 to February 2002. It had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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