Pubdate: Sat, 11 Oct 2003
Source: Quad-City Times (IA)
1018917
Copyright: 2003 Quad-City Times
Contact:  http://www.qctimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/857
Author: Todd Ruger

DRUG-ABUSE EFFORTS SHOULD TARGET PERCEPTIONS

.Substance-abuse prevention efforts in Scott County should focus on 
increasing the perception of youth access to alcohol, tobacco and other 
illegal drugs and raising awareness of problems from abuse of those 
products, survey results suggest.

Responses to the survey, sent via mail to 611 random Scott County 
households earlier this year, showed that the 214 respondents hold norms 
and attitudes about drug use similar to a statistical standard set by other 
Midwest communities, according to the survey done by the Minnesota 
Institute of Public Health.

However, the responses also show that Scott County residents have a lower 
perception of the problems associated with substance abuse as well as a 
lower perception of the easy access youth have to the products, the survey 
states.

The results still show prevention efforts - based on a survey with similar 
results taken more than two years ago - have worked to improve what the 
latest study suggests, said Joe Cowley, the clinical director of the Center 
for Alcohol and Drug Services Inc., or CADS.

"I think it says, 'Continue what you're doing,' " he said.

Over the past two years, CADS has run programs that teach clerks how to 
check identifications for tobacco and alcohol purchases, explore the 
opportunities for youth to purchase alcohol via the Internet and teach 
youth how those products affect their health, he said.

CADS also has worked with community groups to remove environmental 
influences, such as where alcohol and tobacco are placed in stores and 
exposure to advertising, he said.

"We have looked at how are we trying to help kids look at the issue of 
health, how do we help them make long-term attitude and behavioral 
changes," he said. "If we keep kids off drugs, we keep kids safe, we save 
money because we don't have to treat them later or house them later if they 
commit crimes."

The survey - one of 27 funded by a statewide grant - also said that support 
and commitment to drug- and alcohol-prevention programs, as well as 
attitudes that substance abuse is not OK for young people and adults, 
provide a strong foundation for those programs in Scott County.

"We have a community that really understands the importance of prevention 
services and understands how that impacts our children, our community and 
the health of our community," he said.

However, people do not do anything about a problem if they do not perceive 
it, said Margaret Sterling, a senior prevention specialist at CADS.

Many underage adolescents can pass for 18 years old, adults do buy alcohol 
and cigarettes for kids and alcohol is in just about everyone's home, she said.

"We've even had kids say its easier to get marijuana than alcohol" because 
drug dealers do not care about the age of the buyer, she said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman