Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) Copyright: 2008 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Contact: http://www.lubbockonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/841 Author: Robin Pyle Cited: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse www.casacolumbia.org LUBBOCK STUDENTS SAY DRUG USE COMMON Some local high school students say they smell marijuana on their classmates' clothes at school. Drugs are being brought to school and sometimes done on campus or nearby during the lunch hour. Some students are smoking marijuana in their cars right before class and others exchange drugs in the hallways or bathrooms, several students say. When asked if there are drugs on campus, Coronado High School junior Joe Delao said "of course there are," reacting as if it was a dumb question. "It's pretty common," he said, and while drugs were shocking in middle school, it's become so normal "there's not a big effect on us now ... now, it's oh well.' " Monterey sophomore Abel Garcia, Coronado junior Megean Reyna and Lubbock High freshmen Chelsey Bryant and Staci Frentress agree drugs are common at school. School district police don't deny a drug presence on local campuses - there were hundreds of drug incidents last school year. The Lubbock Independent School District's rate of drug offenses per 1,000 students is higher than the state average. But LISD officials say that's due to the district's aggressive enforcement. The students say they know people who use drugs and estimate the majority of their classmates see them, smell them or know somebody who does them. "It's not shocking," Bryant and Frentress said. And that's a big problem, experts say. A growing drug culture? Drugs have become so common and accepted by students nationwide, it's propelling the cultural norm of drugs and drug use, according to a study released last year by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York. "It's just incredibly common for kids to see kids using drugs at school, dealing drugs at school, possessing drugs at school," the center's Elizabeth Planet said. And that makes students more likely to participate in risky behavior because it creates the impression drug use is normal and even cool as well as gives them more access to drugs, Planet said. The statistics Lubbock Independent School District's drug incident rate was nearly 8.9 incidents per 1,000 students in the 30,000-student school district during the 2006-2007 school year, which was higher than other area school districts and the state average of 7.7 per 1,000, according to the Texas Education Agency. Most area high schools and middle schools have reported drug offenders, but some schools, such as Monterey High and Atkins Middle School, have had a higher number of criminal cases. The Frenship school district has a reported 4.2 incidents per 1,000 students, and the TEA didn't release the number for Lubbock-Cooper ISD because there were too few. LISD police reported 273 drug incidents last academic year, according to the TEA, though that number doesn't take into account the number of students involved in each incident. It was unclear from the TEA data how many students were caught in drug-related violations, and the school district could not provide those numbers because it doesn't track that data. Reported incidents in LISD ranged from possession of very small amounts of drugs or paraphernalia to doing and selling drugs on campus. School district police say the most common drug they deal with is marijuana. The TEA numbers include the district's 10 middle schools, where there also is a drug presence despite children being as young as 11. Planet said drug use in middle schools is a growing trend: "Kids are using at younger and younger ages." But drug cases in LISD schools have declined since 2001. Seven years ago, there were about 11.6 drug incidents per 1,000 LISD students, according to TEA data. The district's recent high point was during the 2004-05 school year, when there were about 12.2 incidents per 1,000 students. "Schools aren't a magnet for these problems," said Thomas Nichols, LISD's police chief. "Schools mirror what's happening in society. The kids don't change once they cross the boundary line (into school)." Aggressive efforts' LISD police officials say drugs are not a bigger problem in Lubbock schools than elsewhere - there's just a more aggressive enforcement of it. They deal with the problem a number of ways, including having officers on campuses and using drug-sniffing dogs. The school districts also are trying to separate drug offenders from the main student population and are teaching drug prevention in the classrooms. "LISD has always had very aggressive efforts," Nichols said. It's difficult to compare any school district's drug rate with another because of differences in enforcement and prevention efforts, he said. Many school districts in Texas don't have police forces and some don't have drug dogs periodically taken into the schools like the Lubbock school district, which has 12 officers on patrol at any given time, Nichols said. For example, the Amarillo school district, which has a similar student population with about 32,500 students, has not had drug dogs taken through the schools in several years, said Teresa Kenedy, Amarillo school district prevention specialist. Amarillo schools do have a police presence - at least eight officers at any given time. The district has a reported drug incident rate of 5 per 1,000 students, according to TEA data. The Midland school district, which has about 22,600 students, also does not use drug dogs on a regular basis, said Woodrow Bailey, district director of communications. The school only uses the dogs if there is an alleged incident, which is rare. The district does have a police force, with about 10 officers at the campuses. The district has an incident rate of 5.8 per 1,000 students. Smaller schools statistically tend to have less drug problems, according to the addiction center's study. Planet said she thinks one reason may be because it tends to be harder to keep track of students at larger schools than at smaller schools. Presence on campus Area school police chiefs try to curb drugs at schools by having a presence on campuses - human and canine. The Frenship, Lubbock and Lubbock-Cooper school districts utilize drug-sniffing canines. The dogs are taken through parking lots, hallways and sometimes classrooms - generally anywhere from once or twice a week to several times a month. Nichols, Frenship Chief Pat Standefer and Lubbock-Cooper Police Lt. Enrique Saldana said they are trying to send the message: "Don't do it at school or you'll get into trouble." Area police chiefs said even if the dogs don't find drugs on a particular day, the canine team serves as a deterrent to students. "That is part of our prevention tool," Nichols said. Drug dogs sometimes find drugs and frequently find residue, Nichols said. Students don't face criminal charges for unusable amounts but may face discipline action, with punishment generally ranging from in-school suspension to placement in an alternative school. The majority of drug incidents in the schools involved extremely small or unusable amounts, according to TEA and Lubbock police data. The second deterrent is officers on campuses. Frenship and Lubbock-Cooper police officials say there generally is at least one officer on the middle and high school campuses. "Visibility is our biggest deterrent," Standefer said. "We just try to stay on top of things - nip it in the bud." Saldana said visibility and forming a relationship with students are the biggest ways the Cooper district curbs drug use on school grounds. "The goal is to prevent," he said. Nichols agrees having uniformed officers on campus is a deterrent. "I think we've had a positive impact," he said. The 12 officers on patrol for LISD, six of whom are Lubbock police officers, rotate between campuses, giving more time and attention to grades six and up. Still, things happen. Nichols said officers often confiscate small amounts of marijuana on the campuses, though there was a case last year at Coronado High involving the sale and manufacture of cocaine/opium, according to Lubbock police reports. "There's specific trouble areas that we monitor," Nichols said. He credits the police force with catching many of the drug violators. Repeat offenders get booted to an alternative school, which the police chiefs say makes the general student population safer. Separating the students who break the rules is one way to decrease drugs and crime at the main schools, they said. Once students have been to the alternative school - the LISD school generally has between 75 and 150 students for various offenses - they are less likely to be sent back, Nichols said. LISD students are required to stay at least 25 days and much of the school models a military boot camp. While officers patrol, dangers of drugs are being taught in the classrooms. All local and area students have at least one class or assembly per year aimed at deterring drug use. School officials especially focus on the sixth- and ninth-graders, said Sara Wilson, LISD coordinator of Safe & Drug-Free Schools and Communities. "Your transition years are the most at-risk years," she said. Wilson said she thinks the classes are making a difference in some lives but said it's difficult to measure. Monterey and Atkins Of the LISD schools, Monterey High and Atkins Middle School had more reported criminal drug cases on school property during the 2006-07 school year, according to Lubbock police records. There were 11 criminal drug cases at Monterey and four at Atkins, which are cases where students face possible criminal charges. The other high schools ranged from three cases at Estacado to six at each Lubbock High and Coronado. Numbers ranged from zero up to two at the other nine middle schools. Total, there were 26 criminal cases at the four high schools and 10 at the 10 middle schools during the last academic school year, according to Lubbock police. Nichols said he thinks drugs may be a slightly bigger problem at Monterey and Atkins because they draw a portion of their student populations from some of the worst crime areas in the city - the crime district bound by South Loop 289 and University Avenue and Interstate 27 and 50th Street. "Schools reflect their neighborhoods," Nichols said. At all the schools, officers in general are finding more students with marijuana at the high schools than at the middle schools, he said. However, even those amounts are never that large. Making a difference Students say enforcement efforts are working to curb drug use at school. "We've got too many cops over there," said Monterey student Garcia. "They're starting to put more enforcement." He's noticed more police and less drug use, even off campus during the lunch hour where it was most common. Garcia said many students are no longer taking the risk on school property as far as he knows. Coronado's Delao has noticed some degree of the same thing at Coronado. Most commonly, students walk off campus during the lunch hour to smoke weed, he said. "The school has gotten very strict," Delao said, pointing to the cameras in school, police officers on campus and harsh punishments for those who violate the drug policy. sidebar Drugs: Number of incidents Lubbock County (2006-2007 school year) . Lubbock ISD: 8.9 incidents per 1,000 . Frenship ISD: 4.2 incidents per 1,000 . Lubbock-Cooper ISD: N/A* . Rise Academy: Zero . Richard Milburn Academy: Zero . Roosevelt ISD: N/A* . Shallowater ISD: N/A* . New Deal ISD: N/A* . Idalou ISD: Zero West Texas . Overall region: 5 incidents per 1,000 . Levelland ISD: 3.6 incidents per 1,000 . Plainview ISD: 2.4 incidents per 1,000 . Abilene ISD: 4.1 incidents per 1,000 . Amarillo ISD: 5 incidents per 1,000 . Midland ISD: 5.8 incidents per 1,000 Bigger Texas schools . Dallas ISD: 6.6 incidents per 1,000 . Austin ISD: 15.7 incidents per 1,000 . State average: 7.7 incidents per 1,000 * N/A means the total number of incidents ranged from one to four cases, and the TEA does not release the actual numbers. The number of incidents does not take into account the number of students involved in each incident. Sources: Texas Education Agency, PEIMS Discipline Data Drugs in schools If students attend schools where drugs are common, they are more likely to: . Get drunk. . Smoke cigarettes. . Do illegal drugs. . Think drugs are cool. . Accept drugs as the norm. Source: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University U.S. high schools: 2005 statistics Students report what happens on school property: . 25 percent - were offered, sold or given an illegal drug on campus in the past 12 months. . 5 percent - used marijuana on campus within last 30 days. . 4 percent - consumed at least one drink of alcohol on campus within the last 30 days. Sources: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2006 report by the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice What do your children see at school? 80 percent of high school students and 44 percent of middle school students nationwide have witnessed at least one of the following on school grounds: . Illegal drug use . Illegal drug dealing . Illegal drug possession . Students drunk . Students high on drugs Source: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin