Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Times-Standard
Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writeus
Website: http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: Dave Stancliff
Note: Dave Stancliff is a columnist for the Times-Standard. He is a 
former newspaper editor and publisher.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

THE REAL WAR ON DRUGS: SURVEY FINDS PAST CAMPAIGNS WERE FLAWED

A survey is only as good as the questions it asks.

The California Attorney General's office recently released a student 
drug usage survey which illustrates that point.

Past state and national surveys have missed the mark for measuring 
substance use among secondary school students, according to the 12th 
biennial California Student Survey (CSS).

Professor Rodney Skager, who started this statewide survey in 1985, 
added a couple of key questions to the latest survey - conducted in 
2007 and 2008 - that make a huge difference in getting an accurate 
picture of what really happens with students in public secondary schools.

The report was amended to include first time alcohol use, illicit 
drugs, diverted prescription drugs and cold/cough medications (used 
to get high) in the total percentage of respondents who tried at 
least one of these in their lifetime.

This sensible inclusion of things that tempt students goes beyond 
flawed programs like the Bush administration's National Youth 
Anti-Drug Media Campaign and the Random Student Drug Testing Grants Program.

The research in the CSS report directly challenges the efficiency of 
those programs, and even suggests they were counterproductive in 
promoting healthy student behavior.

The survey stated that as a result of the added questions, 60 percent 
more 9th grade students reported they used at least one drug in their 
lifetime. The number of students in 11th grade who reported use of 
illegal drugs rose to a whopping 74 percent.

Skager, professor emeritus in the UCLA Graduate School of Education 
and Information Studies, is the author of Beyond Zero Tolerance: A 
Reality-Based Approach to Drug Education and School Discipline ( 
www.safety1st.org) published by the Drug Policy Alliance.

What's important about this report is the inclusion of drugs that 
have long been available. It makes past state and national surveys 
worthless. The only way to address a situation as large as student 
drug use is to recognize that the "war on drugs" campaigns were 
unenlightened attempts at best.

"To prevent adolescents who do experiment from falling into abusive 
patterns, we need to create fallback strategies that focus on 
safety," Skager noted in a report about the CSS survey.

The ramifications of the survey are not just statewide. The report 
says the National Monitoring the Future Survey is flawed in its 
approach to solving problems. One result should be no surprise to 
anyone; the social climate among youth tolerates widespread drug 
experimentation and use, though not necessarily use that causes problems.

Most parents already know that. When bottles of cough syrup 
disappear, and Mom's bottle of Valium is missing or empty before the 
expiration date, they know the culprit is one of their own children.

The Bush sponsored drug prevention programs relied on a fear-based 
approach that denied the reality of prescription drugs and other drug 
use among our nation's youth. Like it or not, drug use is rampant 
among the nation's secondary students.

The Abstinence-only Drug Education program just doesn't cut it. How 
could it? If you take a good long look at our culture today, you know 
the temptations to experiment with drugs are manifold. Just look at 
the entertainment industry and its popularity with secondary 
students. Drugs are glorified.

I'm gratified to see that alcohol is finally out of the closet as the 
big problem, rather than the "killer weed" conservatives have been 
baying about like hounds for the last eight years. Reality trumps 
myths. Even the use of prescription drugs was much higher than 
smoking marijuana, according to the CSS survey

Today's student is too world-wise to go along with simplistic 
abstinence programs. Worse yet, when false information goes out, 
students know it, mock it, and go the opposite way to show their 
scorn, according to the survey's summary.

For the entire 2007-2008 California Student Survey, go to the web at 
http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navID=254.

The time has come to promote honest, open and respectful discussion 
with teens. This survey takes a big step toward opening the door for 
real solutions to illegal drug use among our nation's youth.

As It Stands, now it's up to the new Obama administration to use this 
vital information and fight the real war on drugs!
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom