Survey On Teen Alcohol
Abuse and Violence Shows
How Misdirected The Prohibitionist "Anti-Drug" Campaign Really Is
(Ed. note: There is no mention of marijuana
in this story, which is unusual in itself. This article is an interesting example of
how the presumed context for a story influences its emphasis. In America, it is automatic
to look for racial differences, and to ignore the reality of drug prohibition, and
especially the connection between alcohol and violence.
With one major exception, illicit drug use, most of the differences between the groups
is close to the survey’s margin of error. In other words, most of the differences
between groups are insignificant or non-existent, so most of the real news here is in the
high levels of alcohol use and violence in all the groups. What a coincidence!
By playing up non-existent differences between the groups and ignoring the implications
of the differences of reported hard drug usage, this article obscures the most important
points.
Blacks report by far the lowest levels of illicit drug use of any group. Now they may
also be the group that is the least trusting of the process and therefore the least
willing to give honest answers to such questions. Nonetheless, the disparity between
cocaine use rates in these responses and the race of cocaine prisoners is not likely to
increase blacks’ confidence in the system. If these survey numbers are even close to
being accurate, the racial disparity of the impact of the drug laws is even worse than
imagined.
The one conclusion that would be impossible to draw from this data is that we need a
national prohibitionist propaganda campaign aimed at marijuana use.)
See
The Media Switch From
Promiscuity To Prostitution.
Program Content To Reflect Prohibitionist Party Line To Get Government Ads
and
The Seattle
Times Says That Congress Should Reject Clinton And Gingrich’s "Shameless Use Of
The Media."
and
"Without alcohol, this situation
would never have occurred."
24 Arrested; 14 cops hurt; $50,000 In Damage In Penn State Riot
August 14, 1998
CDC Surveys Teen-Age Violence
By KAREN HILL
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -
Black and Hispanic high school students are more likely than their white counterparts to
be a threat to others by carrying weapons or fighting, while whites are more likely to
hurt themselves by driving after drinking alcohol, a government study found.
The similarities among teen-agers were equally stark: About one
in three are involved in fights. Almost one of every five carries a weapon or drives after
drinking. Almost one in 10 attempts suicide.
The findings, based on a survey of 16,262 high school students nationwide, were
released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The lesson here is that too many youth continue to practice behaviors that put
them at risk - for injury or death now and chronic disease later," said Laura Kann, a
chief researcher for the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion.
The 1997 survey looked at behavior leading to injury, and surveyed teen-agers’ use
of alcohol, tobacco and drugs, and their sexual and physical activity.
Hispanic high school students were most likely to arm themselves, with 23 percent
carrying a gun, knife or club, compared with 22 percent of blacks and 17 percent of
whites.
Blacks were most likely to have fought in the previous year, at 43 percent vs. 41
percent for Hispanics and 34 percent for whites.
Whites were most likely to have drunk five or more glasses of
alcohol on at least one of the 30 days before the survey: 38 percent of whites said they
had, compared with 35 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of blacks.
Blacks were least likely to mix alcohol and driving. Nine percent drove after drinking,
compared with 19 percent of whites and 18 percent of Hispanics.
The differences could be "a marker for socioeconomic status" and urban
living, Ms. Kann said.
White teen-agers were nearly twice as likely as Hispanics to smoke frequently or chew
tobacco, with 20 percent of whites saying they smoked frequently, compared with 11 percent
of Hispanics. Among blacks, 7 percent smoked frequently and 2 percent chewed tobacco.
Six percent of Hispanics had used cocaine in the 30 days before the survey, double the
number of whites and nine times the number of blacks. Hispanics also were more likely to
have used steroids or injected drugs.
Nineteen percent of whites and 18 percent of Hispanics had tried other illegal drugs
such as LSD, PCP, Ecstasy, mushrooms, speed, methamphetamines or heroin. Only 3 percent of blacks had.
Asked whether they ate the minimum five daily servings of fruits and vegetables
recommended for good health, only 29 percent of whites and 28 percent of Hispanics and
blacks said they did.
Teen-agers at 151 schools filled out confidential questionnaires for the survey. The margin of error, which differed for each question, was as high as 4
percentage points.
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