DRUG-USE STATISTICS OLD NEWS : SUBSTANCE-RELATED CASES UP IN HART SCHOOL DISTRICT.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

A federal government study released this week about teen substance abuse lent credence to what local educators and counselors already knew: that a rising number of youths have experimented or are addicted.

The Department of Health and Human Services conducted the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, questioning 17,747 people about their use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens and other drugs.

Among the survey's findings were that, between 1992 and 1995, drug usage rose 105 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds.

The William S. Hart Union High School District keeps track of the drug-related suspensions and expulsions from its four junior highs, four high schools and one continuation high school, said Mike Allmandinger, administrator of student services.

During the 1994-95 school year, for instance, there were 147 suspensions for the use or possession of drugs and alcohol, or for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. During the 1995-96 school year, there were 161 suspensions, Allmandinger said.

Additionally, students who possessed drug paraphernalia, or offered, arranged or negotiated the sale of it, were suspended 51 times in the 1994-95 school year, a figure that rose to 58 during 1995-96, the Hart administrator said.

``These took place at school or at school activities,'' he said. ``It's required by our (school) board policy that we suspend.''

Suspensions usually last five days, while the penalty is much more serious for campus drug dealers. ``Sales of drugs is something that we expel for,'' Allmandinger said.

In the school year that ended in June, the Hart district recommended 21 students for expulsion due to drug offenses, while during the 1994-95 school year there were only nine students recommended for expulsion because of drug offenses.

Dave LeBarron, an assistant principal at Canyon High School, said that most of the teens who get in trouble for campus contraband are found with tobacco.

``Once last year, we caught a fella with those little bottles of alcohol in his locker,'' LeBarron said. ``We have cases of students who are in possession of marijuana on campus. We had a couple instances of students who have LSD.''

Teens caught with drugs or under the influence are referred to the Drug Abuse Prevention Education Committee, co-sponsored by the city of Santa Clarita and the Hart district. DAPEC, established in 1976, is operated out of the Santa Clarita Child and Family Development Center, which has a contract with the 12,500-student Hart district to provide drug prevention education.

When students complete DAPEC's five-day program, their suspension is lifted, LeBarron said.

``Marijuana is the drug of choice in Santa Clarita. Ninety-eight percent of all the students who come to DAPEC use marijuana,'' said Bob Chenoweth, coordinator of the program.

Many factors contribute to teen drug use in the Santa Clarita Valley, Chenoweth said.

He cited a lack of supervision and attention, because both parents work or because divorce means that youths increasingly are growing up in single-parent families. Teens seek comfort and escape - from depression or peer pressure, for example - from their friends and substance abuse, Chenoweth said.

``In order to get their needs met, they turn to drugs and alcohol,'' he said.

Other factors contributing to a drug culture include music, dance clubs, parties and the easy accessibility and dramatically lower prices for illegal substances like so-called designer drugs, along with LSD and cocaine.

``Twenty years ago, (cocaine) was very expensive. There's so much of it coming across the border, that it's readily available,'' Chenoweth said.

Parent ignorance or indifference is another element. ``They'll say: `At least he's only using marijuana and not the hard drugs,' or, `I used to use marijuana,' '' Chenoweth said.

``Well, there's no such thing as `not a hard drug.' All drugs are hard, and marijuana happens to be one of the hardest,'' Chenoweth said. ``I mean, it kills brain cells when you smoke marijuana.''