Study: "Drug Infested" Schools On Rise

As teenagers say drug problems at school are getting worse, many parents are expressing doubts about ever making such schools drug free, and a majority of parents are seemingly less concerned about drug dangers, a new study says.

The percentage of teens who say they attend high schools with drug problems has increased from 44 percent to 61 percent since 2002, and the percentage in middle schools has increased from 19 percent to 31 percent, according to the survey to be released Thursday by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

And such activity is not easily hidden: The study has found that eight in 10 high schoolers and 44 percent of middle schoolers have witnessed illegal drug use, dealing or possession, or have seen students high or drunk on school grounds.

Thirty-one percent have witnessed this activity at least once a week.

According to the study, 17 percent of high school students say they could buy marijuana somewhere on their campus in an hour, while 37 percent say they could do it in a day, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.

Some 13 percent of teens said they had tried marijuana, and 4 percent said they had used it in the past month. (Such survey results are often understated because respondents are hesitant to admit such drug use.)

The group calls institutions where illicit drug use is so rampant as "drug infested," and says popular kids who attending such schools are five and a half times more likely to use drugs than the same teens at drug-free schools.

"Those kids who consider themselves among the most popular were likely to get drunk at least once a month, likely to use drugs, likely to smoke marijuana," Joseph Califano, the center's chairman and president, told CBS News Early Show anchor Harry Smith. "The world these kids are living in, that's cool. We've got to change that."

"It has become such a commonplace experience for teens that their concern about it has come down," said Califano.

And with drug use becoming embedded in the high school experience, despair and denial are increasingly characterizing parents' attitudes.

Of parents queried in the survey, only 11 percent said drugs are their child's biggest concern. Asked how they'd feel if their kids smoked pot, 48 percent of parents said they were more worried about sex, 52 percent about shoplifting, and 82 percent about their child driving while intoxicated.

Califano, a former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, recommends that parents pull their kids out of schools where drug dangers are high.

"Parents refuse to send their kids to a school when asbestos is there." Califano told CBS News correspondant Barry Bagnato. "They'd refuse to send their kids to school if it were infested with rats.

"They've got to start saying, 'I'm not going to allow this situation to continue where my kids have to go to a school where drugs are used, kept and sold, or where they're going to see classmates that are high or drunk," Califano said.

The survey also found:

• About six in 10 parents of teens at schools with a drug problem say they believe the goal of making that school drug free is unrealistic.
  
  
• Most parents (86 percent) say drinking is a big part of the college experience, but only 29 percent think their own teens will do a lot of drinking in college.
  
  
• Students who consider themselves popular were more likely to use drugs, drink or smoke than students who do not view themselves as popular.

The survey found 24 percent of teens named drugs as their number one concern, down from 32 percent who listed it as a top concern in 1995.

The survey of 1,063 teens from 12 to 17 years old and 550 parents was conducted from April 2 to May 13 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for the teen sample and 4 percentage points for the parents.

[rainbowbrew]

Oh and I forgot, the media can not for some reason put the dots together to expose this horrible action by the US government so I am thinking they are making money on this war too, and would like to see it continue.

[rainbowbrew]

Lastdance 2 has given evidence that yes this is a government scheme to keep a lot of people employed. Feed the problem and try to solve with poor techniques knowing the war can not be won. We have some pretty nasty people in our government and it goes to the top in this war.

BTW it was Nixon who started the war on drugs. he ignored his commission and really started the war based on racism and anti certain cultures (Jews for one).

The government is going to hold out as long as possible. For some reason each president gets the word. Each republican politico gets the word. Case in point is Senator Coleman who smoked up a strom in college but is now on the drug war band wagon.

Consider this a WPA project that is keeping people employed, militarizing the police, and harming Americans. Humm who are the terrorists (the DEAth???)

Did you realize how fast the patriot Act was created? that many pages in almost a week. Folks it was the Drug War Act before 9/11 and had a hard time passing, put a different name on it and surprise we have something no politician could resist and voted on without reading.

The government nasty''s got what they wanted - more militarization of the police, walls to lock us in and more control over the population all thing things the Drug War actt wanted.

Sick and more sick

[brianbwb-2009]

"Legalize it yeah, yeah, and I will advertise it yeah yeah" Bob Marley.

The only sensible answer.

[lastdance2]

RE :
limestoneman

The - Federal Drug Smuggling Program.
In - Oct 2005 :- FBI Director - "Robert Mueller" - announced :
The FBI would begin to Hire People.
Who had a history of smoking : "Marijuana"

Remember during the "Reagan - Bush" Administration.
Air America a small : "Air Freight Company."

Was caught - Smuggling drugs into the US.
The Smugglers said : "They had been ordered to do it by :
"The White House"

VP Cheney owns a small - "Air Freight" - Company in Northern Idaho
A couple of minutes from the : Canadian Wilderness

In December 2006, - The FBI - Was looking for someone to :
Deliver a Large amount of : "Clean - Unaccountable" money.

A few days Later - VP Cheney announced : He would appear at
that small Air Freight Company.
Upon landing - He announced : if anyone wanted to see him
They would have to give a - Cash Donation.

Large amounts of Drugs in schools
This is the Result of Another - Bush-Cheney - Drug Operation

Want a good paying job? - Head on down to your local - "FBI"
Tell them - You want to Smuggle Drugs and You want the Full Protection of
The Justice Department.

The American Public - Doesn''t - Need to know that :
There is a Large Amount of Drugs in Grade Schools.

The American Public needs to Know - How those Drugs got there
The American Public needs to Know - Who - Smuggled those Drugs ! !

Little wonder Why - The Justice Department will - "Not" - File
Criminal Complaints against the : Bush Administration

They Themselves are all : "Stoned"

Lastdance

[condumism]

Legalize and regulating drugs is the only way to deal with American''s desire to get high. Holland does this, and doesn''t seem to have the problems the USA does. There''s a mystique around trying then using illegal drugs. That all disappears when drugs are legal and regulated. DEAL WITH IT AMERICA!

[limestoneman]

This is one of the reasons that we need to legalize and control all drugs, just like alcohol and tobacco. If we can regulate it and control it, then it would be harder for minors to get a hold of. Drug dealers aren''t checking for ID, after all. By legalizing, we can also take a huge profit from the drug dealers/black market.

[limestoneman]

This is one of the reasons that we need to legalize and control all drugs, just like alcohol and tobacco. If we can regulate it and control it, then it would be harder for minors to get a hold of. Drug dealers aren''t checking for ID, after all. By legalizing, we can also take a huge profit from the drug dealers/black market.

[shelwood46]

That high school principal interviewed was in denial... about 1978. I went to a backwater, midwestern high school in that time period, and kids were doing coke, dropping acid, taking speed, you name it. The key with this study is that they compared 2007 rates to 2002. There''s no context given for that comparison. Show me the bargraph for drug rates from the past 30-40 years. Is the rise in the past five years a blip, a trend, was 2002 unusually low or is 2007 genuinely spiking?

This was a really poorly done piece of reporting.

[cantshutup]

my kid is going into 11th grade...i believe i raised him right...however, he''s got to face drugs, *** and violence when he goes to school...the schools like to talk tuff, but they don''t act on it...there were many days when i called the school office after dropping my kid off, because little gang bangers were roaming the campus with their baggy pants and hoodies covering their heads even though there is a dress code...i''ve seen kids looking like they''re making drug deals right there in front of parents dropping off kids...if schools can''t keep drugs out of schools then they shouldn''t get federal funding...and i''m not talking about bringing in armed cops to terrorize the students either, which they''ve done in SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI public schools...it doesn''t take a rocket scientist to know which kids are bringing the drugs in...take those loosers out but don''t bring cops into the classroom with their guns drawn to terrorize the other students who''ve done nothing wrong!!! when the parents and the kids report what''s going on, the administrators need to act immediately to remove the undersirable kids from the school...however, no cops with guns belong in the schools!!!

[schoolsrme]

First of all, let me say that I agree with drugs being a huge problem in schools today. However, the problem cannot be fixed by the school itself. WE can be instrumental in the fight against drugs but until the judicial system itself begins to fight this problem, there is little we can do. And, of course, the major problem is the family. The family unit has to stop the problem before it begins. As a middle school teacher, I can almost predict the students that will end up drug abusers. It''s very easy to see this in a middle school classroom. Parental involvement begins to dwindle at this crucial age when strong parental involvement is so important. Students in middle school are experiencing changes that often dictate the rest of their entire life. Parents are need at this time but, amazingly, begin to take a back seat to raising their children. Hence, the story of drug abuse begins.