Alija May P. Apego Ma.

Theresa Estrada

VII- Aristotle Feb. 4 2013

Move To Middle School Tied To Youth Drug Use

April 08, 1999|By New York Times News Service. The first national drug-abuse survey to include elementary-school children among the respondents suggests that youngsters become more vulnerable to the lure of drugs once they leave the familiar environment of primary school and strive to fit into middle school. The new survey, by PRIDE, an organization based in Atlanta that counsels schools and parents on ways to inhibit drug use among the young, also bolsters again what many researchers have long said: that cigarettes, alcohol (primarily beer) and inhalants are used far more by children than are marijuana or harder drugs. PRIDE, an acronym for the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education, issued its findings Wednesday at its national conference in Cincinnati. Until now, drug-abuse surveys among children did not focus on those below the 8th grade. But PRIDE's survey questioned pupils from Grades 4 through 6. The survey found that the proportion of respondents who said they had smoked cigarettes in the last month jumped to 7 percent of 6th graders from 1.6 percent of 4th graders. Similarly 2.1 percent of 4th graders said they drank beer at least once a month, fewer than half the 4.7 percent of 6th graders who reported doing so. Monthly sniffing of glue and other inhalants also rose between the grades, although less so: to 2.7 percent of 6th graders from 2.2 percent of 4th graders. As for marijuana, only 0.4 percent of 4th-grade pupils acknowledged having smoked it in the last month, as against 1.7 percent of 6th graders. Officials of PRIDE also cited previous research, done for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, indicating that children's risk of engaging in drug use rises when they move from elementary school to middle school, which, depending on the district, begins in Grades 5, 6, or 7, and later from middle school to high school. Peer pressure and association with new friends appear to be the leading causes. The findings were based on responses from 26,086 pupils at public and private schools in 22 states during the 1997-98 school year. PRIDE sent a questionnaire to the participating schools with instructions for administering it, and all answers were anonymous. Doug Hall, a PRIDE spokesman, said the researchers had used a test-retest method in which the pupils were asked the same questions twice within a two-week period to catch any statistical inconsistencies. But the schools had all volunteered to participate in the survey, making them somewhat less representative than a broader nationwide sample would have been.

Drug Addiction in the Philippines

With much of the focus on drug use in the United States, many people probably dont pay much attention to drug addiction in the Philippines. Why should we? Because it is an ever-increasing problem for the people of that country and they shouldnt be ignored. Drug addiction in the Philippines has increased at alarming rates since World War II. Sadly, the reasons why arent clear cut. Most of the drug users in the Philippines are young people. Illicit drugs that are present include marijuana, LSD, opiates, and barbiturates. While there are no hard fast statistics available, it is estimated that as many as 60,000 young people in the Philippines are dealing with drug addiction. Within a period of ten years, the incidence of drug addiction rose dramatically according to studies done in this tiny country. The majority of drug users are students with marijuana being the drug of choice. Many people believe that this rise is attributable to simple curiosity, but more likely because Philippine youth are trying to emulate their Western counterparts here in the United States. Because so much attention is focused on drug addiction in America, the information is readily available in the Philippines as are the drugs. This has increased the demand for drugs thus pushing drug dealers to grow their own cannabis plants, which is illegal in the Philippines. There have been recent reports as well of drugs being manufactured in illegal laboratories. Local narcotics police have made several raids to try and curb this activity, but of course, to no avail. To meet the challenge of the drug abuse problem several measures, both private and governmental, are being taken. Violators of narcotic laws who make known to the authorities the fact of their addiction and their desire to be cured are referred to the Addiction Institute of the National Bureau of Investigation so that they may undergo treatment and rehabilitation. On another front, a new organization-the Narcotic Foundation of the Philippines-has recently been formed. This is a private association not related to Government institutions and treatment centers; its aims are to raise funds for the treatment and reorientation of young addicts, and to educate the public against the dangers of drug addiction. It is to be hoped that the efforts made by this newly-founded organization, along with the efforts of the Addiction Institute and other interested bodies, will help the country to eventually cope with the alarming growth in local drug abuse. Drug addiction in the Philippines is a growing problem, but it is one that the Philippine government is trying to tackle and take hold of. Just as in the United States, drug addiction is nothing to be taken lightly no matter where it happens here or in the Philippines.