Pubdate: Tue, 05 Mar 2002
Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY)
Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.messenger-inquirer.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285
Author: Lydia Carrico

REPORT ON DRUG, ALCOHOL USE LACKING

The group that has been gathering information on local drug and alcohol 
use, prevention and treatment will be sending a community assessment to the 
state later this week in hopes of securing money for services.

But the assessment won't give an accurate picture of some areas of the 
community. The RiverValley Prevention Center, the agency working to 
establish a local Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy, already has 
found some gaps in information that is available.

Little information on adult drug and alcohol use is available, as well as 
use in some of the local school systems.

"A lot of the information won't be there," said Debbie Haley, community 
mobilizer with the prevention center. "Youth are using. We need to find out 
to what extent."

The information will serve as a starting point from which to begin the 
final process of developing a community plan to tackle substance abuse.

The state mandated in 2000 that all counties form a local board to address 
drug and alcohol issues and develop a strategic plan to tackle the problem. 
Kentucky spends $1 billion a year in health care directly related to 
smoking and another estimated $3.9 billion in health care, law enforcement 
costs and lost productivity due to alcohol and other drug use.

The state set aside $5 million to start Ky-ASAP and said all counties must 
be on board by December 2003. The intent is to pull together all prevention 
and treatment efforts to avoid duplication and prioritize needs.

A design team that was formed to coordinate the local project has been 
working to form a Ky-ASAP board for several months. The board stands to 
receive $50,000 to fund local prevention and treatment efforts if it stays 
on the fast track of sending off its information.

Friday is the deadline to send the assessment to Frankfort to assure that 
the local board will receive the money. The state can't guarantee funding 
for counties who return information later, said Chad Gesser, local board 
coordinator for Ky-ASAP.

Information the design team has gathered so far indicate that:

- -- 28.3 percent of local students ages 12 to 17 who were surveyed said they 
had tried marijuana and 16 percent had used it in the past month, compared 
to 27.2 and 14.3 percent statewide.

- -- 46 percent of the students had tried cigarettes and 19 percent had 
smoked in the past month, compared to 44 percent and 25 percent statewide.

- -- Nearly half of the students had tried alcohol and 21.8 percent had drank 
it in the past month, compared to 55.1 percent and 25.2 percent statewide.

The information comes from the Kentucky Incentives for Prevention Project 
surveys taken in 2001 of students in the Owensboro Public Schools. 
Information is still needed from Daviess County and the Owensboro Catholic 
schools, Haley said. The state wants information from the surveys for 
statewide accurate comparison, she said.

Those tests aren't administered in Daviess County, said Stu Silberman, 
superintendent of the Daviess County Public Schools. Other surveys are used 
to indicate drug and alcohol abuse; however, results from those surveys 
were not available Monday.

Joe O'Bryan, superintendent of the Owensboro Catholic Schools, could not be 
reached Monday.

Owensboro Mercy Health System conducts yearly health assessment surveys in 
which students are asked about drug, alcohol and tobacco use. Those 
assessments, which included surveys from all four area high schools and 
conducted in 2000, show that:

- -- 48 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 use alcohol.

- -- 29 percent of the students smoke.

- -- 19 percent use marijuana.

Members of the design team will present their findings to the state March 
18. Once the state accepts the needs and resources assessment, the county 
will receive 15 percent of the grant, or $7,500, to begin developing a 
strategic plan to combat drug and alcohol abuse.

Daviess Fiscal Court will receive 5 percent of the grant to administer funds.
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MAP posted-by: Alex