Drug Abuse Appears On Decline Here

Students are smarter about drugs than they were a couple of years ago. That's the consensus of students, school personnel and a detective from the Ann Arbor Pólice Department recently interviewed. Lt. Calvin Hicks says, "Kids have learned a lot through self education. They's seen bad drugs and bad drug experiences." He notes a decline in the last two years in certain drug abuse areas, most noticeably hallucinogens, stimulants, and central nervous system depressants. There has been little noticeable change in the use of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, Hicks says. However, he adds, there has probably been an increase in the use of alcohol among students. While students and some school officials note a decline in drug abuse among students, statistics indicate suspensions of students for drug related offenses are up over last year. During the 1972-73 school year 11 students were charged with drug related offenses by the school, including five for alcohol. During the tint three months of the 1973-74 school year, there have been 21 drug related suspensions, including seven for using alcohol. School officials say the suspension statistics, however, may not accurately reflect drug use among students. Emerson Powrie, deputy superintendent for operations, says other offenses, such as robbery, extortion or fights may be drug related but are not recorded as part of the drug statistics. Albert Gallup, assistant principal at Huron High School, says the difference in the number of suspensions may be related to availability of some drugs. A minor difference in the figures may be due to enforcement. A plain clothes police officer is helping to crack down on drug abuse in the schools, Gallup says. Some students and counselors say the apparent decline in the abuse of some drugs sterns from sophistication of users and respect for the power of drugs. I've seen an increase in drug use and a decrease in drug abuse," says David Feldt, training coordinator for Drug Help and a student at Pioneer and Community high schools. Feldt, 16, says among his friends there has been an upsurge in drinking alcohol with beer readily accessible to most students - no matter what their age. Cocaine is popular among students, according to Feldt, but it is also expensive. "It's a very special occasion when they do get it," he says. If there is any trend, Feldt says, "It is to more careful, considerate and thoughtful use of hallucinogens such as LSD - persons realize it is a really scary drug, he says. When persons use stimulants such as amphetamines, according to Feldt, it is usually related to something they want to do: study or listen to records. The Drug Help worker says most students he sees abusing drugs junior high school or are younger high school students. Andrew Byrnes, 17, a senior at Huron High School, agrees drug abuse is more prevalent among younger students, who, he says, may get involved because they think it is the "in" thing to do, not because they really en joy it. Fewer students are using pills, according to Byrnes. Students can't tell for sure what they are buying, are afraid of possible metabolic or chromosome changes the pills may bring and are satisfied with the effects of marijuana, Byrnes says. A majority of parents of older high school students know their children are drinking or smoking marijuana. They feel drinking is socially acceptable, he adds. . Byrnes and Feldt agree drugs no long er put up a barrier between the user and non-user as they did a couple of year ago. ' "Drug users and non-drug users can be friends now," Feldt says. Students who don't want to become involved in drugs and those who do are equally respected for their decisions, Byrnes says. For parents who worry about their youngsters taking drugs, the picture is probably better now than a couple of years ago, says Lt. Hicks. "There was a point when high school students thought drugs were a fad . . . Peer group pressure which existed in 1969 and 1970 is not present now. It's a more individual thing with students thinking for themselves," Hicks says. When talking to students, one learns trends in drug usage may be related to their, group of friends at school. A senior at Community High School who has been preparing to go on to college says fewer of her friends are smoking marijuana or taking pills than in previous years. Another girl, a 10th grader, says among her friends fewer persons are taking pills but more are drinking beer, whiskey and vodka. "They don't see the harm in drinking even though it messes up your liver," she says. Barbara Stephenson, human relations worker at Community High for two years, says Ann Arbor's young persons are highly educated about drugs and for many marijuana is a household word. Dr. Wiley Brownlee, dean of Community, agrees, saying students are as sophisticated about drugs as the average adult is about alcohol. When asked if the school has had any problems with drugs, Brownlee says, "I don't know of any hard stuff at all. I thought it would be a really big thing . . . We have had problems with four or five students bringing beer to school." Burel Ford, counselor at Pioneer High School, says he notes a decrease in the number of students involved in drugs but that doesn't mean there are no drugs being used. The counselor reports dealing with no students who have overindulged in drugs this semester. "Alcohol may be an altogether different ball game," he says. "Alcohol has acceptability . . . Those who would normally be involved in escape mechanisms could go for alcohol." The most likely time school officials would see students under the influence of alcohol would be at social events Ford says. Students usually operate on a mutual protection society and take each other home if someone has been drinking, he says, so there is no definitive evidence regarding alcohol usage. There are other ways students escape, Ford says. "The best means of escape is apathy, withdrawing, maintaining a C average but not really being involved. These are the kids I am concerned with. They conform to things they don't believe. They are not on drugs or alcohol but not operating at their potential either," he said. Another counselor at Pioneer High, John Henkel says "dope" is not a common topic for student discussions as it was in 1969 and 1970, peak years for drug use. "We don't have kids freaking out in school like we did two or three years ago. The revolutionary movement of the 1960s has lost its spearhead," Henkel says. Gary Parlove, human relations worker at Tappan Junior High, says he has seen a decrease in drug use in the last two years. When he first came to Tappan as a human relations worker, lots of students were experimenting. "If kids are doing it now, they're being more discrete. Usually kids at this age want others to know what they are doing," he says. William Brennon, counselor at Clague Middle School, estimates about 15 students out of some 950 enrolled have attempted to smoke marijuana in the school this semester. Students do not try to drink alcohol in school, he says, but they may be drinking on weekends. "Kids this age come in with the mopes a lot," Brennon says. It is difficult to tell if the cause is a hangover, problems at home or school or physical changes related to growing up, he adds. Huron High Counselor Thomas MacKenzie says only occasionally does he come across a student using marijuana. Much of the smoking is done in the parking lots or in the woods behind Huron. Gallup notes there has been an increase in arrests for selling marijuana in the school parking lot. "If you go out in the woods, you sure find a lot of sandwich bags and there aren't that many students taking their lunches," says Gallup. Marijuana is often packaged in sandwich bags. Selling and smoking marijuana is a problem for the school, says Gallup, because of the waste of time for teachers and students when students come to school under the influence of marijuana. The most serious racial incidences in the last year and a half have ,been related to stealing of marijuana, he says. The theft may start with individuals but when they involve their gangs, problems arise. There has been a national trend during the last two years away from drug abuse, according to MacKenzie, starting in places like San Francisco and New York. The trend comes a little later for places such as Ann Arbor and even later to more rural areas, he adds. MacKenzie notes a decrease in the use of pills. Since school began there have been about a half dozen students who have taken drug overdoses. Usually fewer than a dozen students a year overindulge in drugs at school, according to MacKenzie. Early this fall a number of students were mixing alcohol and quaaludes, a depressant, according to Gallup. The combination can be fatal. The assistant principal notes a decrease in heroin use. No students are suspect at Huron this year compared to last year when authorities suspected about five persons, he says. Gallup and counselors at Pioneer agree students using heroin probably aren't in school. Hicks says even in the peak years of 1969 and 1970 there weren't a high percentage of heroin and cocaine users among 16, 17 and 18 year olds. Heroin is something persons usually graduate to after starting on other drugs, searching to find the ideal drug, Hicks adds.