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Study shows many GM students use drugs

Editor's Note: This story is a compilation of reports from Mr. Robert's Statistics and Data Analysis class first quarter, second period.

In a recent study, 417 General McLane students were surveyed about drug usage. This represents 45% of the student body at General McLane High School. Of the students surveyed, 59% said they had experimented with drugs. Thirty-six percent said they were currently using drugs on a regular basis. The median age for experimentation was 14 years old. Alcohol and marijuana were the most commonly used drugs. Drug usage most frequently occurred at parties of at friends' homes. Fifteen percent of the students surveyed admitted to coming to school under the influence of drugs. According to the students, only 9% of the parents were aware of the usage. It is significant to note that of the 247 students who said they experimented with dugs, 60% of them are currently using drugs on a regular basis.

Forty-nine ninth grader males were surveyed. Fourteen of the 49 males surveyed said they had experimented with drugs (29%). Five male ninth graders admitted to currently using drugs (8% of those surveyed). The drug choice for experimentation and usage was alcohol followed closely by marijuana. The students were asked to rate the ease of obtaining drugs on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being "easy to obtain"). Most ninth grade males gave a rating of "2" on the scale. Students stated that dug usage mostly occurred at parties and that their parents did not know about their drug usage. Most students started using/ experimenting with drugs by the time they were 13 years old.

Fifty-three ninth grade female students were surveyed. Of those students surveyed, twenty-four admitted to experimenting with drugs (45%). Eight female ninth graders admitted to currently using drugs (15%). Alcohol was the drug of choice for experimentation, with marijuana coming in second. Eight female students admitted experimenting with prescription drugs. The median age of first use/ experimentation was 12 years old. Of the eight female students using drugs, half of them admitted to using drugs at least weekly. Three ninth grade females admitted coming to school under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Thirty-seven tenth grade male students were surveyed. Sixteen male students (43%) said they had experimented with drugs. Alcohol was the choice for experimentation for all 16 students. The median age for first use/ experimentation was 13 years old. Thirteen (35%) of the tenth grade males surveyed said they were currently using drugs. The frequency of usage for seven of the students was at least weekly. Most usage occurred at parties with alcohol and marijuana being the drug of choice. Five students said that their parents were aware of their drug usage.

Thirty-three tenth grade females took the survey. Thirteen said they had experimented with drugs (39%). Eleven of these students said they had experimented with alcohol. The median age for first use was 14 years old. Six female tenth graders admitted to using drugs on a regular basis (at least monthly). Most usage occurred at parties of at a friend's house. According to the respondents, no parents were aware of their drug usage. Alcohol and marijuana were again the drugs most often used.

Sixty-three male eleventh graders responded to the survey. Forty-six male students (73%) said they had experimented with drugs. Alcohol and marijuana were the drugs most often experimented with. The median age of experimentation/ first usage was 13 years old. Thirty-two (51%) of the respondents said they were currently using drugs on a recurring basis (at least weekly). Most usage occurred at parties and friend's homes. Most parents were not aware of the student's drug usage (according to the students). The eleventh grade males said that it was easy to obtain drugs, with 71% of those surveyed choosing 1 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Fifty-nine eleventh grade females were surveyed. Of the students surveyed, 42 (71%) said they had experimented with drugs. Nineteen eleventh grade girls said they were currently using drugs (32%). Of the 19 girls currently using drugs, 11 said they had come to school while under the influence. Of the 42 females who said they had experimented with drugs, 40 said they experimented with alcohol. Thirty-nine students had experimented with marijuana. The median age for experimentation was 14 year old. Most drug usage occurred at parties and friend's homes. According to those students currently using drugs, only five parents were aware of their usage.

Sixty-five twelfth grade males were surveyed. Seventy-five percent (49) said they had experimented with drugs. Thirty-six males (55% of those surveyed) said they were currently using on a regular basis. The median age for beginning experimentation was 14 years old. The most common drugs for both experimentation and usage were alcohol and marijuana. Twelve of the students currently use drugs on a daily basis.

Twenty-seven of the students surveyed said they had come to school under the influence of drugs. The students said that their parents were unaware of their usage for the most part. Eighteen students said that obtaining drugs was easy (a rating of 1 on a scale of 1 to 5 scale).

Fifty-nine female twelfth grade students were surveyed. Forty-three females (73%) had experiments with drugs. The median age for experimentation was 14 years old. Thirty females said they were currently using drugs on a regular basis. Of those 30 female students, 12 said they used drugs only a parties. The most commonly used drugs were alcohol and marijuana. Only eight parents were aware of the drug usage.