Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI) Copyright: 2005 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Contact: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195 Author: Robbie Dingeman, HA Health Writer TEENS KICKING HABITS, SURVEY SAYS Fewer Hawai'i teenagers are drinking, smoking cigarettes or doing drugs, according to the latest school-based survey of nearly 30,000 students. The incidence is the lowest in a decade and is approaching record lows, according to the Hawai'i Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Study. However, the study also shows that a large number of students are still experimenting with drugs and alcohol, said principal investigator Renee Pearson, a University of Hawai'i associate professor. This year's findings continue a decline in substance abuse that began between 1998 and 2000 after peaking in 1996, Pearson said. The decrease occurred as treatment and prevention programs were increasing, she said, warning that the community needs to be as vigilant as ever. "This is not the time to start cutting resources," she said. "This is the time we need to work harder." Some high school students weren't so sure that smoking, drinking and drug use are declining that much. Jarren Hirasaki, a 17-year-old senior at McKinley High School, said drug use may be down but smoking and drinking seem to be pretty popular among students. "I think that cigarette and alcohol use is up. I even see middle school students smoking. I think they're just trying to blend in," said Hirasaki, a McCully resident. He thinks at least half of all high school students tried cigarettes at least once. Jozette Campollo, 16, a junior at Leilehua High School, also thinks more people drink and smoke than the survey shows. "I think four out of five of my friends drink," Campollo said. "I think a lot of people smoke cigarettes. I think they start in middle school." And Campollo wonders how much illegal drug use is dropping. "I think it's increasing, maybe not so much with marijuana but with ice." Lauren Ho, a junior at Hawaii Baptist Academy, believes that the survey is accurate based on what she sees at her private school. Ho, 16, was the state's 2004 cross-country running champion. "My school is really strict so we're not really exposed to that stuff," she said. She said she used to practice soccer and see groups of teens smoking in the dugouts. "Overall, I haven't been seeing that (lately); I think it has definitely declined." Among the study's highlights: - - The drop in methamphetamine use -- which peaked in 1989 when as many as 12 percent of 12th-graders reported trying the illegal drug -- was down dramatically. In this year's report, 1 percent of eighth-graders, 3 percent of 10th-graders and 4 percent of 12th-graders said they had tried the drug. - - Marijuana use is down but continues to be the most common illegal drug, with 44 percent of 12th-graders reporting they had tried it, along with 31 percent of 10th-graders and 12 percent of eighth-graders. - - The only drug showing clear evidence of an increase was inhalant use among 12th-graders, which was 7 percent in 2002 and increased to 9 percent in the latest report. - -------------------- About The Study A=95 Nearly 30,000 students in grades 6 through 12 in 181 public, 41 private and seven charter schools statewide were surveyed in the fall of 2003. A=95 The survey is paid for by the state Health Department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse division with money from federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grants. A=95 More report information is available on the Web at www.hawaii.gov/ health/substance-abuse/prevention-treatment/survey/adsurv.htm. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFLorida)