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From the Desk of Bill Cirone...
March 5, 1999
Heroin use on rise
Sadly, heroin use nationwide is on the rise among high school students, doubling from 0.9 percent of the nation's 12th graders in 1990 to 1.8 percent in 1996, according to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics. The figure rose to 2.1 percent last year, according to Richard Schwartz, a Virginia pediatrician who reviewed data from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Experts cited the fact that the narcotic has become easier to acquire and that more teenagers sniff it in the false belief that that method is safer than injection.
Tragically, the national figures are mirrored here in Santa Barbara County as well, where heroin use is also on the rise.
Overall, the age at which people use heroin is getting younger, according to the report. The average age of a heroin user was 27 in 1988. The age had dropped to 19 by 1995.
Schwartz claimed that the drug's popularity among teenagers is partially a result of the fact that it is cheaper and easier for many middle-class, suburban teens to purchase than it was a decade ago. "It's sold and freely available in the suburbs," he said. "You don't have to go into the inner city to get it."
He said it is also appealing to young people that the drug no longer requires injection by needle. Teenagers perceive sniffing or snorting heroin to be less dangerous than shooting it, which puts users at risk for exposure to the virus that causes AIDS, he explained. There is a false sense that it is somehow safer to use without that particular risk.
It's clear that the devastating health effects of heroin and its highly addictive nature should make parents and educators take action, despite the small numbers of children experimenting with it, said Schwartz.
These sentiments were echoed locally by those involved with Fighting Back, Santa Barbara County's organization that has received grants to work with local community members and schools to help fight drug abuse.
A survey of alcohol and drug use among Santa Barbara County teenagers conducted for Santa Barbara County Health Care Services by Dr. Michael Furlong of the Graduate School of Education at UCSB in the spring of 1991 and 1995 included 7th, 9th and 11th graders in our county. A smaller-scale study in the Santa Barbara area last year found similar results.
The good news of the original countywide survey was that a large number of our students in this county did not use drugs: 84 percent of 7th graders, 74 percent of 9th graders, and 69 percent of 11th graders said they have never once used drugs. There was also evidence that the use of certain drugs had fallen: daily beer consumption, wine, LSD, barbiturates, sedatives, and inhalants were all used less in 1995 than in 1991. But the bad news was that the use of pot and crack/cocaine had risen about 3 percent and heroin use was up as well.
The 1998 Youth Survey conducted by Fighting Back showed similar trends. Youths in 1998 reported lower use of both legal and illegal substances. Fewer 7th and 9th graders reported using methamphetamine and inhalants and they reported smoking cigarettes at lower rates. Marijuana use was down slightly at all levels, but dramatically lower at the 7th grade level.
However heroin remains the drug of high concern. It is a serious drug that has severe consequences for young minds and bodies. We must continue our efforts to celebrate drug-free lifestyles and provide our young people with the knowledge and motivation to stay away from these poisons.
© Santa Barbara County Education Office
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