Student drug use down; uncertain if testing is cause Survey updates 2004 effort. Five percent drops. Teens question if right people are being screened. Monday, October 23, 2006 • BY LYNN OLANOFF • The Express-Times HACKETTSTOWN | More local high school students are saying no to drugs. That was the conclusion of a survey of student drug use at Hackettstown High School, where random drug tests have been conducted for two years. The survey, carried out in the spring and released Wednesday, was the first since the high school began drug testing in September 2004. A survey taken in spring 2004 is the baseline. Drug use for the school's 11th- and 12th-grade students, who have been tested the longest, is down significantly, said Stacy Heller, the school's student assistance counselor. "Nothing has gone up and our goal was to have a 5 percent decrease in these areas, which we have," Heller said. "It shows our programs are having a modicum of success." The number of students who have used marijuana in the last year has decreased from 42 percent of 11th-grade students in 2004 to 29 percent this year, according to the survey. For 12th-grade students, the use is down from 45 percent in 2004 to 29 percent this year, the survey states. The survey found the number of students who have tried almost all the drugs tested -- marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, sedatives, tranquilizers -- is down. Use of hallucinogens has stayed about constant, according to the survey results. Among narcotics, heroin use is down but taking painkillers is on the rise, the survey numbers show. There's an easy explanation for that, Heller said. "Kids can get them more easily than heroin because they can get them from their parents' medicine cabinets," she said. Drug tests conducted in the last two years also show little drug use at the school. Of the 245 tests, only one has been positive, Heller said. A group of high school seniors agreed Friday drug use is down at the school, but said it wasn't necessarily because of the drug testing. "They're testing the kids who are involved. The kids who do drugs aren't usually involved," Erin Freeborn, 17, said. All students who are involved in extracurricular clubs or park their cars at school are required to be in the testing pool. That accounts for about 70 percent of the school's 1,000 students. About 25 percent of those students will be tested this year. That's up from 20 percent last year and 10 percent the year before. A voluntary random drug-testing program was started this fall for seventh- and eighth-grade students at Hackettstown Middle School. Superintendent Robert Gratz said the survey results left him still concerned about alcohol use at the high school. Overall use and being drunk has decreased among 11th- and 12th-grade students, but alcohol use has remained relatively constant for ninth- and 10th-grade students, according to the survey. The school board has approved random alcohol testing at the high school, but the particulars still have to be worked out. Students will likely be subject to random breath alcohol tests at school dances, Heller said. The survey also shows that alcohol use before and after school events has decreased over two years for 11th- and 12th-grade students, but has been unchanged for underclassmen. Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.