Alcohol, Drug Use by Las Virgenes Juniors Is High : Survey: Eleventh-graders in the affluent district drink and smoke marijuana more than students in the rest of the state.

High school juniors living in the affluent communities served by the Las Virgenes Unified School District report they drink more alcohol, smoke more marijuana and cigarettes and drive drunk more often than their counterparts in the rest of California, according to a survey completed by a UCLA researcher.

Although drug and alcohol use among seventh- and ninth-graders attending Las Virgenes schools is about the same as students statewide, 11th-graders report dramatic increases in their consumption of beer, wine and spirits.

“In our society, alcohol is the drug of choice,” said Joe Nardo, the district’s coordinator of curriculum in charge of drug and alcohol education. “We must compete with millions of dollars in television advertising . . . parents who are saying, ‘Rather that than drugs.’ ”

Las Virgenes high school juniors also report using more marijuana, LSD and other hallucinogens then students in the same grade statewide, but use less cocaine and crack cocaine, according to the survey of 543 district students.

The survey results, which were compiled by education professor Rodney Skager, will be used as a benchmark against future years to gauge the effectiveness of district drug and alcohol education programs, officials said. Skager was hired by the district to conduct the survey as part of a drug and alcohol education program paid for with state and federal funds. This is the first year the survey has been conducted.

The district of about 9,600 kindergarten through 12th-grade students serves the communities of Calabasas, Hidden Hills and parts of Agoura, Agoura Hills and West Hills.

Skager has asked the same questions of students statewide as a consultant for the attorney general’s office since 1985. In general, drug use has dropped and alcohol use has remained about the same during that period, according to the state survey.

Nardo said the district policy is to teach students that they should not use any drugs or alcohol. That message is difficult to impress on students, especially when parents keep and use alcohol at home, he said.

About 50% of the Las Virgenes 11th-graders believe their parents are strongly opposed to alcohol use, compared with 53% of 11th-grade students statewide. Fifty-one percent of the Las Virgenes juniors report they purchase drugs and alcohol using money obtained from parents, compared with 40% statewide.

“Students go home, there’s beer in the refrigerator, it looks like it’s OK to use,” Nardo said.

That observation coincides with what students themselves say. The combination of free time, boredom and the easy availability of alcohol makes its use common whenever high school students gather, they said.

“Nobody thinks it’s going to kill you if it’s legal for someone over 21,” said Traci Vilk, 15, a junior at Agoura High School. “People go to parties and they want to drink. They’re not going to stop.”

About 32% of the juniors attending the district’s two high schools reported that they drink every weekend, compared with 22% of the students statewide. Sixty-eight percent of the Las Virgenes district juniors say they had gotten drunk by age 16, compared with 55% statewide.

Even more alarming, district officials said, is that 40% of the juniors report driving drunk at least once, compared with 35% statewide, and 14% said they have driven under the influence more than six times, which is about twice the percentage reported by juniors statewide.

“There are parties every weekend, and if you know where to go, there are parties every day,” said A. J. Merrifield, an Agoura High School junior. “You see kids come back from lunch loaded every day.”

About 17% of the Las Virgenes juniors said they notice at least one student drunk or high on drugs every day, compared with about 10% of students statewide. A bit more than a quarter of the Las Virgenes juniors said they themselves have come to school intoxicated by drugs or alcohol at least once, compared with 22% statewide.

“People are bored, there is nothing to do,” said Sara Milles, 14, a freshman at Agoura High School.

Added Michelle Bickford, 14, a sophomore: “If someone’s parents are out of town, there’s a party.”

Younger students say they do not use drugs or alcohol nearly as much as older students. About 11% of the district’s ninth-graders report using alcohol once a week, the same as students statewide, and about 4.5% say they smoke marijuana once a week, about the same as ninth-graders in the rest of California.

“I don’t know anyone who drinks or takes drugs,” said Alexis Cohen, 14, a freshman.

Among Las Virgenes juniors, 32% say they had never gotten high on drugs or alcohol, while 41% of the 11th-graders statewide reported never getting high.

Sharla Corliss, 13, also does not know students who drink or take drugs. But she regularly sees other students smoking cigarettes. About 18% of the Las Virgenes juniors said they smoke cigarettes daily, compared with 12% of juniors statewide.

“I’ve tried it,” said Sharla, a freshman at Agoura High School. “It was gross.”

Drug and Alcohol Survey

Results of 1991 drug and alcohol survey among 11th-grade students in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Shows comparison with statewide results.

Las Virgenes Statewide * Weekly use of alcohol 31.7% 21.9% * Daily use of alcohol 5.7% 2.8% * Used any form of drugs or alcohol 81.3% 75.0% * Drank beer in past six months 68.5% 62.0% * Drank wine in past six months 67.8% 60.5% * Drank spirits in past six months 53.5% 45.6% * Used marijuana in past six months 30.0% 27.6% * Used cocaine in past six months 5.6% 7.4% * Used LSD in past six months 10.0% 5.9% * Used mushrooms in past six months 9.4% 5.2% * Using drugs with alcohol at least once 28.2% 26.7% * Tried crack cocaine 3.3% 4.0% * Smoke cigarettes 17.6% 12.0% * Use steroids regularly 1.6% 0.5% * Drunk first time by age 16 68.0% 55.0% * High on drugs first time by age 16 35.0% 31.0% * Never high on drugs or alcohol 32.4% 41.0% * Notice at least one student a day who is high on drugs or alcohol at school 17.0% 9.7% * Been at school at least one time high on drugs or alcohol 26.0% 22.0% * Driven drunk at least once 40.0% 35.0% * Driven drunk more than six times 14.0% 7.5% * Know adults who drink alcohol 93.0% 90.0% * Know adults who use marijuana 52.0% 49.0% * Know adults who use cocaine 26.0% 32.0% * Know adults who use pills to get high 48.0% 40.0% * Believe parents feel strongly against alcohol 49.7% 53.3% * Believe parents feel strongly against marijuana 82.1% 89.2% * Leading reason most kids use drugs or alcohol is to have fun 75.0% 60.0% * Very easy to obtain alcohol 66.0% 49.0% * Fairly easy or very easy to obtain drugs 82.0% N.A. * Parents are the source of money for drugs and alcohol 51.0% 40.0%

SOURCE: UCLA Prof. Rodney Skager