Pubdate: Sun, 12 Feb 2012
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2012 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
Author: Eric Peterson

OFFICIALS: STEVENSON'S DRUG PROBLEMS UNIVERSAL

The scope of a drug sale investigation at Stevenson High School in
Lincolnshire last week drew intense public interest.

But at the end of it, the charging of only two students and recovery
of less than 10 grams of marijuana revealed a problem that was
entirely typical of all high schools throughout the suburbs, police
and school officials said.

"That kind of thing probably goes on in every high school in America,"
Barrington Police Chief Jerry Libit said. "We've certainly had our
share of kids using pot or buying pot or selling pot. It's a horrible
situation when it happens in the high school. That's why they have
enhanced penalties for it and everything."

Barrington High School Principal Steve McWilliams agreed it's a most
serious matter when drugs invade the safety of the school
environment.

"We will go to whatever degree the law will allow to address
transactions on school property," McWilliams said. "I know that it's
happened, but it doesn't happen very often. (Drugs have) been an issue
at high schools since high schools were opened. We just have to help
educate students to make good decisions."

In the Stevenson case, students' cellphone texts showed marijuana
transactions were being arranged during the school day. But the actual
exchanges took place off school property, investigators said.

According to an annually updated University of Michigan drug survey,
daily or near-daily use of marijuana among teens is currently at the
highest level since 1981.

The trend has been increasing for about five years, in sync with a
decline in the perception of the drug's risk, according to the survey.
Researchers speculated that this could be related to the increase in
public discussion about the use of medical marijuana.

The survey results showed that near-daily use of marijuana nationwide
now stands at 1.3 percent among eighth-graders, 3.6 percent among high
school sophomores and 6.6 percent among high school seniors. That
means about 1 in 15 seniors today smokes marijuana almost daily.

That statistic is not a surprise to local educators or law enforcement
officers.

"Marijuana has become extremely common and prevalent among teens,"
Elgin police Sgt. Dan O'Shea said. "Weed is probably easier for kids
to get than cigarettes. We're never going to win the weed war. Never."

That's why he and others said education is the most useful weapon in
that war. And why he believes there is no such thing as a student
being "over-involved" in athletics or other school activities.

"Parenting is the first and last line of defense," O'Shea said. "When
teenagers are bored, they're going to find something to do."

Chris Sullivan is master sergeant of the North Central Narcotics Task
Force, organized by the Illinois State Police to reinforce drug
education and enforcement efforts in Kane and McHenry counties.

"If we were an enforcement agency only, we wouldn't be serving our
community," Sullivan said.

Though the long-running Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
programs are on the wane, Sullivan said efforts must be maintained to
inform young people of the risks of gateway drugs like marijuana and
harder drugs like heroin. Both marijuana and heroin are rising in
popularity, the latter having lost its old stigma as a "dirty drug"
because it's no longer used exclusively through injection with needles.

Sullivan, who previously worked in Lake County, said in no way has the
perceived affluence of the Stevenson High School community made the
level of teen drug use there different from elsewhere.

And McWilliams said he doesn't believe the relative affluence of the
Barrington High School community has had much impact on the level of
drug use among its student body either, based on his conversations
with other principals in the Northwest suburbs.

Drug-sniffing dogs make random checks at the school about eight to 10
times per year, which seems to be doing its job as a deterrent,
McWilliams said. Drugs are usually found in only one or two searches a
year.

But he agreed that a balance between enforcement and education is the
key for schools, police and especially parents.

"Raising a teenager -- to raise a son or daughter of any age, in fact
- -- is not easy," McWilliams said. "It takes a lot of energy, a lot of
knowledge."
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.