Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA) Copyright: 2009 Times-Standard Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writeus Website: http://www.times-standard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051 Author: Dave Stancliff Note: Dave Stancliff is a columnist for the Times-Standard. He is a former newspaper editor and publisher. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) THE REAL WAR ON DRUGS: SURVEY FINDS PAST CAMPAIGNS WERE FLAWED A survey is only as good as the questions it asks. The California Attorney General's office recently released a student drug usage survey which illustrates that point. Past state and national surveys have missed the mark for measuring substance use among secondary school students, according to the 12th biennial California Student Survey (CSS). Professor Rodney Skager, who started this statewide survey in 1985, added a couple of key questions to the latest survey - conducted in 2007 and 2008 - that make a huge difference in getting an accurate picture of what really happens with students in public secondary schools. The report was amended to include first time alcohol use, illicit drugs, diverted prescription drugs and cold/cough medications (used to get high) in the total percentage of respondents who tried at least one of these in their lifetime. This sensible inclusion of things that tempt students goes beyond flawed programs like the Bush administration's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and the Random Student Drug Testing Grants Program. The research in the CSS report directly challenges the efficiency of those programs, and even suggests they were counterproductive in promoting healthy student behavior. The survey stated that as a result of the added questions, 60 percent more 9th grade students reported they used at least one drug in their lifetime. The number of students in 11th grade who reported use of illegal drugs rose to a whopping 74 percent. Skager, professor emeritus in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, is the author of Beyond Zero Tolerance: A Reality-Based Approach to Drug Education and School Discipline ( www.safety1st.org) published by the Drug Policy Alliance. What's important about this report is the inclusion of drugs that have long been available. It makes past state and national surveys worthless. The only way to address a situation as large as student drug use is to recognize that the "war on drugs" campaigns were unenlightened attempts at best. "To prevent adolescents who do experiment from falling into abusive patterns, we need to create fallback strategies that focus on safety," Skager noted in a report about the CSS survey. The ramifications of the survey are not just statewide. The report says the National Monitoring the Future Survey is flawed in its approach to solving problems. One result should be no surprise to anyone; the social climate among youth tolerates widespread drug experimentation and use, though not necessarily use that causes problems. Most parents already know that. When bottles of cough syrup disappear, and Mom's bottle of Valium is missing or empty before the expiration date, they know the culprit is one of their own children. The Bush sponsored drug prevention programs relied on a fear-based approach that denied the reality of prescription drugs and other drug use among our nation's youth. Like it or not, drug use is rampant among the nation's secondary students. The Abstinence-only Drug Education program just doesn't cut it. How could it? If you take a good long look at our culture today, you know the temptations to experiment with drugs are manifold. Just look at the entertainment industry and its popularity with secondary students. Drugs are glorified. I'm gratified to see that alcohol is finally out of the closet as the big problem, rather than the "killer weed" conservatives have been baying about like hounds for the last eight years. Reality trumps myths. Even the use of prescription drugs was much higher than smoking marijuana, according to the CSS survey Today's student is too world-wise to go along with simplistic abstinence programs. Worse yet, when false information goes out, students know it, mock it, and go the opposite way to show their scorn, according to the survey's summary. For the entire 2007-2008 California Student Survey, go to the web at http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navID=254. The time has come to promote honest, open and respectful discussion with teens. This survey takes a big step toward opening the door for real solutions to illegal drug use among our nation's youth. As It Stands, now it's up to the new Obama administration to use this vital information and fight the real war on drugs! - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom