Substance Abuse Survey Shows Disturbing Spikes, Positive Trends

By John Voket

The worst thing that can come from the positive trends revealed in Newtown’s latest student substance abuse survey would be a dangerous dose of complacency. Judy Blanchard, district health coordinator for Newtown public schools, does not want the overall positive results to lull the community into a false sense that drug and alcohol problems are on the wane; the survey also indicates some disturbing increases in inhalant use among middle schoolers and binge drinking among high school upper class members.

Results of the 2005 Governor’s Prevention Initiative for Youth Newtown Student Survey were officially released Thursday afternoon during the bimonthly meeting of the Newtown Prevention Council. A memo detailing some of the key points of its results was also circulated Tuesday evening to school board members as part of an information packet of correspondence.

The survey, which was administered last April, was compiled by Assistant Superintendent Alice Jackson and Michael Regan, the district director of pupil services. Its major sources of comparison are results of a similar survey conducted in 2002, as well as state and national statistics on drug and alcohol use and abuse among school-age populations.

Mrs Jackson told The Bee prior to Thursday’s Prevention Council gathering, that overall, the results were positive; every statistic trends lower than the previous survey in 2002. But she shared Ms Blanchard’s concern about news of diminishing substance abuse and a stronger showing among students who stated they never tried tobacco products, alcohol, and marijuana.

“The results of our community collaboration are showing some effect, but we’ve got a long way to go,” Mrs Jackson said.

The assistant superintendent urged all parents of school-age children to remain vigilant and to educate themselves about the particulars of the report, as well as stepping up communication with their children in order to better support and protect them from becoming tempted to experiment or begin using drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. To that end, a downloadable copy of the report is available on The Newtown Bee website under the Newtown Prevention Council link.

Ms Blanchard said that anytime a survey of this nature shows downward trends in substance abuse, the natural tendency for parents is to believe the problem is going away, or that it won’t affect their own children.

“The flip side of good news is you can lose your edge,” she said.

Mrs Jackson and Ms Blanchard both pointed to a spike in inhalant use among middle school students as one of their greatest concerns. In her memo to the Board of Education, Mrs Jackson wrote that the rate of students who have used inhalants has risen from 6.8 percent in 2002 to 11.2 percent in 2005 for seventh and eight grade.

“This is still well below the national average of 17.1 percent,” she noted. Although use of inhalants by juniors and seniors has dropped, it is well above the national average for that age group.

The school system is collaborating with the Parent Connection to offer a workshop in early February for parents to raise awareness of inhalant use and give parenting strategies to prevent such use. Isabel Burke, a nationally known authority on the subject, will be presenting at that event, which is open to the general public.

In a conversation with The Bee earlier this week, and in a follow-up email, Ms Burke indicated that even the experimental or intermittent use of inhalants can provide a “gateway” experience to other drugs.

“According to a 2005 report from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 35 percent of adults who first started inhalant abuse at age 13 or younger were classified as dependent on or abusers of alcohol or an illicit drug in the past year,” Ms Burke said. “But among adults who had never abused inhalants, only ten percent were dependent or abusers of alcohol or another illicit drug. So inhalant abuse can be considered a clue to a person’s vulnerability to other substance abuse problems.”

She said youths who had used an inhalant in the past year were three times more likely to have used marijuana, seven times more likely to have used hallucinogens, and eight times more likely to have used cocaine in the past year.

“Inhalant substances are most often initiated by children, and even one use can have very serious consequences,” Ms Burke said. “Most people think glue sniffing ended in the 60s, but huffing and sniffing have been on the rebound, as record numbers of preteens and teens experiment with this dangerous practice. The average age of inhalant initiation in Newtown is 12 years old, so parents should be alert and engaged. The good news is, 90 percent of Newtown students believe it is wrong to inhale/sniff to get high, plus 90 percent of Newtown youth feel very close to their parents and enjoy spending time with them.”

Since Connecticut is among the leading states in the nation reporting incidents of underage drinking, the local survey results showing more than a 40 percent drop in binge drinking is positive news. However, Mrs Jackson pointed out she was especially concerned with the numbers reported by high school juniors and seniors.

“Thirty percent of our juniors and seniors reported they got drunk or very high on ten or more occasions,” Mrs Jackson said. “And 40 percent of those students said they had three or more drinks [when they had access to alcohol].”

Ms Blanchard correlated those statistics to the number of incidents of alcohol-related problems students said they were experiencing in their own home.

“One-third reported problems with alcohol among their parents or other immediate family members,” Ms Blanchard pointed out. “And parents who have issues with alcohol usually means it is easily available, so it is no surprise that we are seeing some of these results.”

She said that parents who frequently use or abuse alcohol foster an atmosphere of acceptance in the home.

“Parents are the role models,” Ms Blanchard said. “If they get high or drunk, this is the example they are setting. It’s unfortunate, but this is the reality.”

Mrs Jackson said that since many of the district’s stepped-up policies and programs addressing substance abuse were put into place at the onset of the 2004-05 school year, the downward trends show promise of future success.

She is recommending the following supports:

éProvision of a certified substance use counselor in the middle and high school to work with students

éContinue support and implementation of the Board of Education Substance Use policy

éContinue enforcement of the town ordinance that forbids the serving of alcohol to unrelated minors on private property

éContinue to provide structure and monitoring at the high school to prevent smoking and drinking on school grounds and at school functions

Mrs Jackson wrote that the school district needs to work with students, parents, and staff to discuss the data about the following and develop a plan:

éAwareness of the consequences of tobacco or alcohol use in the schools or school activities

éCheating on tests (37.2 percent believe that it is not at all wrong or a little bit wrong)

éThe Prevention Council should work together to understand the underlying causes and develop strategies to address:

éExperimentation with inhalants in the lower grades

éEase of access that students report for beer, wine, wine coolers, cigarettes, and marijuana.

éThe sources that students are using for alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana

éThe amount of time that students are spending each day without the supervision of an adult