Thursday, June 01, 2000

Drug use by teens down in Tristate

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But alcohol consumption on the rise

By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        When Walnut Hills High School junior Montez Mason makes the rounds of weekend teen parties, he can get a beer or a stiff drink just about everywhere he goes. Marijuana or cocaine, on the other hand, is a little less common.

        And according to the Coalition for a Drug-Free Cincinnati, he's not alone.

        Wednesday, the multiagency coalition released a survey of more than 47,000 students from the Tristate that shows, among other things, teen alcohol use is on the rise while illegal drug use is declining.

        “It's everywhere,” Montez said Wednesday while talking about the abundance of alcohol.

        “And some of the parties you go to, that's all it is — sitting around and drinking,” said the 16-year-old, who said he doesn't drink.

        “I think people drink more because it's legal, even though it's not legal to drink underage. And if you do get caught, the punishment won't be as bad as if you get caught with a joint or something.”

        The voluntary survey of seventh- through 12th-graders was conducted in the 10-county Greater Cincinnati area, including Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. According to coalition officials, it is the largest such effort ever conducted in the area.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Here are key findings about teen drug and alcohol use from a recent survey of 47,236 seventh- through 12th-graders from the 10-county Tristate area, conducted by the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati: • Regular alcohol use (at least once a month) rose to 30 percent in 2000 from 26 percent in 1999. • By the end of seventh grade, 44 percent of students claim to have experimented with at least one substance. • 70 percent of alcohol is consumed in private homes. • 75 percent of parties hosted by students have alcohol present. • 16 percent of respondents reported using marijuana at least once a month in 2000, unchanged from 1999. Source: Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati

        To track trends, the coalition compared results to two previous studies, the first a 1999 survey by Citizens Against Substance Abuse, which primarily polled Hamilton County students. The other was a national survey conducted last year by the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education. The PRIDE study was then broken down by localities, which included students from the Tristate but from primarily outside Hamilton County.

        U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, said that even with the decline in illegal drug use, more work must be done.

        “It's discouraging because teen drug use is still at an unacceptable level in our community,” said Mr. Portman, who formed the coalition in 1996 and serves as the organization's president.

        Paul Zimmerman, a senior manager for Procter & Gamble, designed the survey and said it had a zero margin of error because more than 50 percent of the students who were asked to participate filled out surveys.

        Of those who responded, 30 percent claimed to use alcohol at least once a month in 2000, an increase from 26 percent from last year. In addition, the survey reports that 70 percent of teen alcohol use is within private homes and 75 percent of parties hosted by students have alcohol present.

        The percentage of those saying they used marijuana at least once a month stayed steady at 16 percent, and the percentages of respondents claiming to use hallucinogens, uppers, downers, cocaine and heroin each fell 1 to 2 percentage points.

        Walnut Hills students said illegal drugs were almost as easy to obtain as alcohol, but agreed with their schoolmate Montez that the latter remained the drug of choice. And they said that it isn't just beer or wine that can be had at parties, but hard liquor as well.

        “There are always going to be the people who want to smoke weed, but you can get beer or liquor at just about any party you go to,” said Myrita Craig, a 14-year-old freshman. “And most of the parties are a mix of ages, so the young kids can get it if they want.”

        Teens interviewed said it was more the threat of tougher punishment than any anti-drug message that kept them from using illegal drugs.

        But when asked about the drop in tobacco use — which went to 22 percent in 2000 from 30 percent in 1999 — many credited anti-smoking efforts.

        “We were brought up being taught about cancer and the rest, and some of the older kids weren't,” said 16-year-old sophomore Raven Jackson. “I think one of the reasons that the smoking is down is that the ones who smoke aren't around here anymore.”

        Jennifer Mrozowski contributed to this report.

       

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