Crime & Safety

Are Drugs & Alcohol a Problem at Brookline High?

New national study indicates that drug and alcohol use during the school day is a bigger problem than previously thought. How much so in Brookline?

Roughly 17 percent of American high school students engage in smoking, drinking or doing drugs during the school day, according to a new study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (NCASA).

The NCASA study also indicates that approximately 86 percent of students reported that they knew of classmates who abused drugs or alcohol during the school day.

This was the 17th such study conducted by the NCASA. The group interviewed more than 1,000 students ages 12-17, according to an article appearing on Huffington Post.

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In May, in an effort to curb underaged smoking, Brookline's Town Meeting voted in favor of a . 

Last November's . A high schooler who spoke then in favor of the warrant article said that cigarettes acted as a gateway drug.

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Perhaps more disturbing aspects to the survey included roughly 50 percent of the students indicating there was a place on there campus where students reguarly went to do drugs or drink alcohol. And about 44 percent said they knew of a classmate selling drugs, according to the Huffington Post article.

So we pose these questions to Brookline Patch readers -- How big of a problem is drug and alcohol use at  and do you feel enough is being done to combat it?

Use the comment section to post your responses.


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