Pubdate: Fri, 14 Dec 2001
Source: Birmingham News (AL)
Copyright: 2001 The Birmingham News
Contact:  http://www.al.com/bhamnews/bham.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45
Author: Jon Anderson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

HOOVER STUDENT DRUG USE FALLS

Some Say Programs Pay Off As Fewer Choose To Imbibe

Drug use among students in Hoover city schools has dropped significantly 
over the past 12 years, according to a survey released Thursday.

Fewer students in the seventh, ninth and 11th grades reported drinking beer 
and smoking cigarettes and marijuana than students in those grades did in 
1989, according to the survey of Hoover students conducted in the spring.

The 2001 survey was given to about 1,700 randomly selected students in the 
sixth through 12th grades, but comparison questions from 1989 were only 
available for the seventh, ninth and 11th grades.

According to this year's survey, the use of liquor has decreased in the 
seventh and ninth grades.

The number of 11th-graders who said they had drunk liquor in the three 
months preceding the survey increased, however, from about 40 percent in 
1989 to 42.9 percent in 2001.

The strongest improvement was at the ninth-grade level, where 75.4 percent 
of students said they had not drunk beer in the past three months, compared 
to 53 percent in 1989.

The number of ninth-graders who said they had not smoked cigarettes in the 
past three months increased from 61 percent to 80.7 percent, and the number 
of ninth-graders who said they had not drunk liquor over that time rose 
from 58 percent to 75.4 percent.

Few students reported using "hard" drugs. For example, 99.5 percent of 
seventh-graders, 96.9 percent of ninth-graders and 95.1 percent of 
11th-graders said they had not used cocaine in the past three months. 
Comparison data from 1989 was not available for that question.

The 2001 survey numbers are slightly skewed because they don't include 
students attending Hoover's Crossroads alternative school, where students 
reported more drug use. However, the percentages couldn't be more than 5 
percent off because of the small student population at Crossroads, said 
Hayden Center, a substance abuse prevention expert hired to conduct the study.

Center said there's no scientific way to explain the significant 
improvements since 1989, but it appears the multiple education and 
prevention programs implemented by the schools and community are having an 
effect.

Former Hoover Mayor Frank Skinner in 1989 appointed a drug prevention task 
force that was headed by the current mayor, Barbara McCollum, when she was 
a councilwoman.

The same year, the Hoover school system hired Anne Hartline as its safe and 
drug-free schools coordinator, and in 1991 the Safe and Drug-Free Schools 
and Community Advisory Team was formed.

Over the years, the two groups, which eventually merged, started many 
anti-drug initiatives, including parenting seminars, community rallies, 
drug-free activities for teens and a Peer Helper program in which students 
encourage other students not to use drugs.

The Hoover Police Department started a Drug Awareness and Resistance 
Education program in 1990 as well. Children participating in city sports 
leagues sign commitments to remain free of drugs and alcohol.

In 1997, the Hoover City Council banned cigarette vending machines from the 
city. The school board, in 2000, adopted a drug-testing policy for 
athletes, becoming the first school system in the state to test students 
for tobacco use.

Janet Windle, executive director of the American Lung Association of 
Alabama, said the Hoover community has gone a long way toward changing 
behavior norms for teens, especially when it comes to drugs.

"It's just not the cool thing to do," Ms. Windle said. "That sounds sort of 
trite sometimes, but when they hear it as much as they do here, that 
affects their behavior and their perception."

The study also revealed that 15.6 percent of the students indicated they 
had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. Nationally, the 
number is 20 percent. About 2.8 percent of the Hoover students said they 
actually attempted suicide in the previous 12 months, compared to 8 percent 
of students nationally.

No student in the Hoover school system has committed suicide since 1990, 
school officials said.
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