Los Gatos Weekly-Times

CASA survey shows dramatic drug-use rise from freshman to senior year

Alcohol and marijuana rate as students' drugs of choice

Hallucinogen use is also up

By Clarence Cromwell

Justin Redman (not his real name) started experimenting with drugs the summer after seventh grade.

By the time he was a sophomore, most of his friends were people who used drugs. There was always a party to go to, and Justin never had to pay for the refreshments. His well-off friends shared a smorgasbord of drugs: alcohol, marijuana, 'shrooms, speed and crank.

Life in the fast lane finally caught up with Justin just before his senior year. The 16-year-old attended a party where he drank three beers in 45 minutes and then left. When police pulled him over for a moving violation and arrested him, Justin's breathalyzer test registered .06--two hundredths less than the level where adults are considered legally intoxicated, but high enough to convict a minor.

Five of Justin's friends have been convicted of driving under the influence, as well.

After six months of probation--without a driver's license--Justin has straightened out, he said. And most of his friends don't party anymore, either.

"No, definitely not," he said. "It's all over."

Well, it may be over for Justin and his pals, but during the two years since Justin's partying peak, Los Gatos High School has found itself with more students like the old Justin.

Students consume more drugs than they did four years ago, and the rate of drug use among LGHS students is significantly higher than the average level of drug use by students nationwide, according to a study released May 15 by Community Against Substance Abuse.

Members of the senior class, who took the same study when it was last given four years ago, have dramatically increased their consumption of alcohol, marijuana and hallucinogens. The study asked students whether they had used a drug during the past 12 months.

* Of seniors who took the survey this year, 79 percent reported using alcohol; as freshmen 60 percent of the group had used alcohol. But 4 percent fewer seniors consume alcohol than did seniors who graduated in 1994.

* Use of marijuana increased from 32 percent of students to 52 percent.

* Use of hallucinogens changed from 14 percent to 23 percent. Use of other narcotics fluctuated only slightly. None dropped dramatically.

The study shows a steady escalation of drug use as students progress through their high school years. More sophomores used drugs than freshmen, and more juniors used drugs than sophomores. Juniors and seniors consumed drugs at about the same rate the past year.

The levels of drug use in LGHS's senior class are much higher than the national average for seniors. Asked if they'd been drunk during the past year, 61 percent of Los Gatos seniors answered yes, while only 52 percent of seniors nationwide say they've been drunk. And while 52 percent of Los Gatos seniors have smoked marijuana during the past year, only 36 percent of students nationwide have done so.

The study showed that the drugs used most by students are also the drugs they believe will hurt them the least. Asked whether they thought "regular use" would lead to "a lot" of harm, fewer students were afraid of alcohol and marijuana. Those two drugs, the most popular at high school parties, concerned between 32 percent and 41 percent of students, depending on grade level and the drug.

Other drugs, including tobacco, scared kids much more than marijuana and alcohol. While 76 percent of the senior class considered cigarettes dangerous, only 41 percent considered a joint harmful.

More than 70 percent of students considered LSD harmful. And more than 80 percent considered cocaine harmful.

Most drug and alcohol activity happens at parties, according to student responses to the survey. Second to that was drug and alcohol use at home or "at night with friends."

CASA members were alarmed that 26 percent of juniors and 21 percent of seniors reported taking drugs (not counting alcohol) "while driving around."

The number of students using drugs on campus increased in all classes. Of the current senior class, 15 percent reported using drugs at school, while 9 percent of the 1994 senior class used drugs on campus.

CASA also reported an increase in the number of students who use drugs at school events. In the senior class, 15 percent had used drugs at a school event, whereas 11 percent of the 1994 senior class had done so.

Those numbers concerned principal Ted Simonson.

"Our thrust has to be how to hold the stuff off campus," Simonson said.

Simonson wants to hire a private firm to bring drug-sniffing dogs on campus several times a year. The dogs would sweep lockers, classrooms and parking lots to detect drugs, alcohol and gunpowder.

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