The number of Ohio's students who reported using tobacco products has dropped by 38 percent over the past three years.

        Alcohol use declined by 16 percent and use of illegal drugs by 21 percent among the same students.

        In a survey conducted by Atlanta-based Pride Surveys, students around the country reported a decrease in the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, but in Ohio the decreases were substantially larger.

        “Each percentage point represents about 450 Ohio students,” said Luceille Fleming, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.

        “I feel as though I should send up a skyrocket or something,” Ms. Fleming said. “I'm convinced if you can lower the numbers in sixth, seventh and eighth grade, your battle's half done.”

        Pride Surveys, which also works to curb and prevent student drug use, surveyed 223,000 Ohio students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades, along with students from 24 other states.

        The survey also showed that marijuana users are five times more likely to smoke cigarettes, and that Hispanic and Latino students are most likely to use drugs.

        For the first time, Pride also asked students about use of OxyContin and Ecstasy.

        Less than 1 percent of sixth-graders in Ohio said they had tried Ecstasy, while 8.9 percent of 12th-graders had. OxyContin was used by 1.1 percent of sixth-graders and 5.7 percent of 12th-graders.

        The survey results were released Thursday at a press conference attended by Ohio first lady Hope Taft at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.

        It coincided with the Pride Youth Conference, an annual event sponsored by the same group that conducted the survey.

        The three-day conference, which began Wednesday, has drawn 4,500 students and adults from all over the United States and 10 foreign countries, according to spokesman Howard Mitchell. The students participate in Pride youth programs at their schools that promote leadership and drug-free lifestyles.

        Jason Warren, 13, is a sixth-grader at Heberle Elementary and a member of his school's Club Pride. He was enjoying himself at the conference.

        “Helping kids stay off the street and stay off drugs helps you have a good life,” Jason said.

        He plans to join a march that begins at the convention center at 11:30 a.m. today and culminates in a rally on Fountain Square about noon.

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