cannabisnews.com: How Do High School Students Get Their Drugs? 





How Do High School Students Get Their Drugs? 
Posted by FoM on May 31, 2000 at 11:58:43 PT
By James A. Kimble & Michael Gillis, Staff Writer
Source: Foster's Daily Democrat 
Although statistics that spell out drug use among local students are troubling, perhaps more troubling is that some teens say the figures are conservative, if they mean anything at all."There’s definitely a pretty big minority that’s into drugs," said one Dover High School senior under the condition of anonymity. "Pot’s definitely the drug of choice."
In fact, that minority is pretty large. Forty-seven percent of the Dover High School students surveyed say they have used marijuana at some point and 27 percent say they use it at least once a month or more, according to the recently completed, but controversial, Teen Assessment Project survey.Seventeen percent of the high school students who took the survey say they use marijuana weekly.Dover High students are using marijuana at a rate slightly higher than the national average, according to the survey sponsored by the Dover Coalition for Youth and administered by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.However, New Hampshire high school students rank second in the nation for marijuana use at 52 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.And marijuana is easy to get, even at school."It’s simple," said one sophomore. So simple, in fact, that students have little fear of being caught, he said. The presence of a resource officer has only prompted students to use more discretion when making drug transactions, he added, but it has not stanched the flow."It’s easy," said another sophomore. "If I wanted to get it I could ... It doesn’t matter how many people they get in there ... because nobody ever brings it to school. They just ask and bring it somewhere else."Half of all local students surveyed, which includes seventh- and eighth-graders, believe marijuana is either "easy" or "very easy" to get.Drugs are easily accessible at parties, which are plentiful and held often, many students said."It’s not just weekends," said one senior of the parties and drug use. "It’s going on during the school week."Superintendent Armand LaSelva is quick to point out that drug use is not rampant within the high school’s walls."Kids don’t come to school to use drugs," LaSelva said. "It isn’t that the school is promulgating this."Nonetheless, School Board members have been quite vocal about the need for tougher enforcement in the schools.The situation is such that some students are bold enough to bring drugs to school and are not always concerned about concealing them, according to School Board member Kevin Quigley. In fact, one student who was expelled recently by the board had been caught at school after being spotted with a bag of marijuana dangling from his backpack.LaSelva said the problem with drugs and alcohol must be addressed soundly at home and by the community at large.But many parents may be out of the loop on a variety of social issues, a fact underlined in the Teen Assessment Project survey, also known as the TAP survey."Many local youths felt they had not had a good talk with their mothers or fathers in the past year about whether or not it is OK to have sex, birth control, AIDS and other STDs, the risks of drinking and using drugs, and personal problems," according to the survey.One reason may be a shift in demographics. More often than not, both parents work, which means many teens are home alone after school.In fact, according to the TAP survey, 57 percent of teens say they spend more time at home alone than with their parents or adults.While that happens, marijuana use now begins earlier than ever. In 1966, the average age of first-time use for marijuana was 20 years old. By 1996, it had dropped to 16 years old, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Tomorrow: One school official says it’s time to step up enforcement at Dover High School to curb the drug problem. Part 1Dover Teens Say Drugs Are Easily Obtainablehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5891.shtmlEDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of a five-part series on drug use by Dover High School students. A recent survey showed that Dover teens are taking drugs at a rate slightly higher than the national average. This series talks about the problem and suggested solutions. Web Posted: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 © 2000 Geo. J. Foster Co. 
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Comment #3 posted by john on January 19, 2001 at 07:42:15 PT:
my beliefs on lovely mary-jane
as a ex-marijuana smoker & substance abuser i felt that your page was honest, and well informed. i'm 16, and i started smoking bud when i was 13. i didn't smoke because of peer pressure, i smoked because i seen anti-drug ads that told the youth to not smoke the wacky-tabacky for all the wrong reasons. they give us cartoon characters that tell us not to smoke because it stinks. do you think that a 13/14 year old really cares if he stinks? don't get me wrong i know that it does work for some teens, but i live in dearborn, MI, its a mice place, ford motors world headquarters is here, but mostly everybody i know smokes pot or has tried it. thanks.
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on June 01, 2000 at 02:25:19 PT
goats
Observers observation about the scapegoat factor is good.The goat factor is vital to the WosDs.Without the goats,the whole thing would shrivel.If you dont have an enemy for a war,then you must create one,and after creating an enemy,you must convince the public of how dreadful,ruthless and evil the enemy is.....dddd
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Comment #1 posted by observer on May 31, 2000 at 16:26:36 PT
Insanity is . . .
If I want liquor, as an adult, I go to a licensed seller. If he sells to minors, he loses his license and gets arrested.Since marijuana is illegal, dealers have no such incentive not to sell to children.Note how the Foster's Daily Democrat studiously avoids this inescapable fact. One reason that Prohibition advocates began to scream for repeal, was because they were watching their minor children easily obtaining bootleg liquor, something they could not do before Prohibition. But, repealing drug prohibition would leave the Police State without a scapegoat to direct hate at. Having scapegoats to hate is very important to Drug Warriors: it makes them feel all the more righteous. (As they steal, kill and destroy.)...marijuana use now begins earlier than ever. In 1966, the average age of first-time use for marijuana was 20 years old. By 1996, it had dropped to 16 years old, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration — an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Neither can Foster's Daily Democrat connect these facts with the increasing criminalization of cannabis users over the same period. The thought will never occur to them. No, if increasing punishments for adults who use marijuana is accompanyed by decreasing ages of first use, then the only solution is to do more of the same; after all, it worked so well before.Insanity [is] ... Continuing to do the same things and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein (and Clinton's version, too)Insanity is doing the same old thingover and over againand expecting a different result.-- Bill Clinton, campaign debate, October 11, 1992Oh ... except for Drug Warriors. Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is futile for the rest of us, but Drug Warriors are all different. When they continually take away rights and increase penalties, yet get the same result: that's ok. Because they're Drug Warriors. They're fighting the "good fight." Results are irrelevant. For them.
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