cannabisnews.com: City Teens Use Pot More Than U.S. Peers





City Teens Use Pot More Than U.S. Peers
Posted by CN Staff on September 06, 2004 at 08:04:00 PT
By Raquel Rutledge
Source: Journal Sentinel 
Milwaukee high-schoolers light up marijuana more than their peers nationally and in such urban centers as New York and Los Angeles, according to a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, nearly one-quarter of today's high-schoolers regularly smoke marijuana, the study says. In Milwaukee, nearly one in three say they currently smoke it, and more than 50% say they've tried marijuana at least once.
The statistics remind Bob Helminiak of the 1970s, the heyday of hippies and an emerging drug culture, when 37% of high school seniors surveyed nationally said they had recently smoked marijuana, according to data from Monitoring the Future, a long-term research project at the University of Michigan."It's almost like we're back in time," said Helminiak, curriculum specialist for health and physical education at Milwaukee Public Schools. "It's real strange."Experts say drug use among Milwaukee's teens is especially high for a number of reasons, among them the city's history."What made Milwaukee famous?" said Ladd White, an alcohol and other drug abuse counselor at the Child & Adolescent Center, a residential program at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc. "Part of it is our culture: We're the beer-drinking capital of the world. We're the party state. The overall mentality is, 'It's OK to mood alter.' "Fifty-two percent of high-schoolers surveyed in the Milwaukee school district said they have tried marijuana at least once. That compares with the national average of 40% as well as 37% in Boston, 30% in New York City and 43% in Los Angeles.And 29% of Milwaukee's teens reported being current users, compared with 22% nationally.The margin of error for most of the survey results was 3 or 4 percentage points with a 95% confidence of accuracy.The survey questioned nearly 1,500 MPS students as well as more than 15,000 students in public and private schools across the country in 2003.Thirty-two states, including Wisconsin, and 17 other large school districts also participated. Students were scientifically selected, participated voluntarily and were allowed to remain anonymous. It was the first year Milwaukee was included in the survey, which the CDC conducts every two years.Many don't see pot as a drug "The trend is to put whatever you can inside of you to see what happens," said Kathy Sorenson, program director and founder of Project HUGS (Helping us Grow Safely), a non-profit Madison-based drug intervention and parent advocacy agency. "Kids don't even think of marijuana as a drug anymore."A 17-year-old senior from West Allis Central High School didn't hesitate recently to accompany her boyfriend to a Kmart parking lot to buy a bag of weed."I didn't think anything of it," said the teen who described herself as a "good girl" who has never gotten into trouble. "It's just like drinking. Everyone does it. It's the straight-A students. It's not just the ghetto kids."Then she got busted. Police had been watching the dealer who sold the bag to her boyfriend. They got her license plate and showed up at her door."My parents were just, like, shocked," she said. "It affected all my friends. My little sister, it really affected her, and my older sister was really upset about it."The girl was sentenced to do 22 hours of community service.Michael Myszewski, director of the narcotics bureau with the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, said the availability of drugs in Milwaukee and around Wisconsin makes it easy for teens."It's an agricultural state," he said. "There's a tremendous amount of homegrown marijuana here." Smoking on the way to school Milwaukee Police Officer Malcolm Morgan sees kids walking to school in the morning smoking joints and recently arrested a middle school boy at a parochial school in possession of a "very large quantity" of marijuana."It just blew me away," Morgan said. "You look at this kid and you never would have thought (he would deal drugs). He came from supportive parents."What really shocks Morgan, a six-year school squad veteran for District 7 on the city's northwest side, is the young age at which kids are now starting to use marijuana, he said."These kids are so young you can't even write them a ticket," he said, noting that the minimum age to issue a ticket is 12.Statistics support Morgan's observations.The percentage of students who report smoking marijuana before age 13 jumped to 9% in Wisconsin in 2003 from 5% a decade ago, according to the CDC survey. And again, more Milwaukee-area kids - 14% - said they smoked the drug before their 13th birthday.Kids also report they are being offered drugs in school more than ever. Nationally, 29% of students surveyed in 2003 said they were offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school property in the last 12 months. One in three students in Milwaukee said the same.Despite the apparent rampant use of marijuana among teens, some swear they never touch the stuff."There is still a good number of people who won't, who are clean," said Mike Phillips, a 16-year-old student at Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, including himself in the bunch."If you're into it or not, most people respect that. They still hang out with me just the same," Phillips said at a skateboard park in Brookfield. "I think it's stupid and a waste of money. It's not worth all the risks."Sherry Martin, an alcohol and other drug abuse counselor with the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics adolescent intervention program, said some problems stem from parents being absorbed in their work and paying too little attention to their teens. Acquiring mass amounts of money isn't worth it, she said, and in fact, affluence can contribute to drug abuse."If you give your kids $70 for spending money," she said, "you might as well go out and buy them a bag of weed."From the Sept. 6, 2004, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Note: Study shows climb in last decade.Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)Author: Raquel RutledgePublished: September 6, 2004Copyright: 2004 Milwaukee Journal SentinelContact: jsedit onwis.comWebsite: http://www.jsonline.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on September 12, 2004 at 12:24:16 PT
Better than me...but isn't that what we want?
Anytime my children came at me with "But you...!" My reply was always, "But I expect you to do better than me. Something is wrong if each generation doesn't raise the next to be better. That's the hope."I did the best that I could. I wasn't perfect. Knowing what I know now, I might have done a few things differently, some things, I know I would. My children won't be perfect either, but easily, I expect them to be better in many ways than their Dad and I. I think they are raising their children with the same thing in mind.Of course they will make mistakes and they will make a lot of the same mistakes that we made.I loved being a Girl Scout. "Be Prepared!" Scouts are a "family tradition" here, too. As well as softball, hardball, t-ball, soccer, Band, Dance and football. I never really liked football, but it helped send my son to college as well as the hospital a few times. Our family was busy and seldom watched TV. They are all still busy. Sometimes they drag me along. :-)Children can break you heart like no other, but they are a precious gift from God. I believe. Watching them grow, teaching them, teaches us. It’s about love. Unconditional love. Sometimes it’s hard. I watched Lady Killers the other day and I loved the way the elderly church lady was prepared to “smite” people up side the head, if the situation called for it.Children certainly have stirred and blessed my life. They still do.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 12, 2004 at 11:58:31 PT
Dankhank
I just saw your comment. Thank you. I understand too.Making memories is important I believe.
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on September 08, 2004 at 05:14:18 PT
Children
We spent much time with our children; travelling to see family and the world; Scouting, my wife and I were both Scoutmasters at different times and both sons are Eagle Scouts; coaching sports; it just seem the way to be as parents, we never talked about why we should do it, we just did it.I treasure all I can remember of my sons, and there is a lot to remember. Did it help them? Both my boys grew up to be strong, intelligent, compassionate men.Better than me I suspect, but isn't that what we want?Peace ...Love your children, spend as much time with them as you can.
For the family
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 06, 2004 at 12:58:57 PT
John Tyler
Years ago we made a decision for me not to work while my son was growing up. No one in our family believed in working moms because being a mom was considered a very important job. We did with less but I don't regret it now. I'm sure it isn't for everyone but I'm glad I did it that way.
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Comment #1 posted by John Tyler on September 06, 2004 at 12:43:07 PT
Sherry Martin oversimplification
"Parents being absorbed in their work and paying too little attention to their teens." How about parents having to work a lot just to make ends meet when the cost of everything goes up but their salaries don't.  And this "Acquiring mass amounts of money isn't worth it." Isn't that what the hipsters said over 30 years ago? 
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