Drugs becoming a rarer sight in schools

"Hopefully, this is an indication that schools and parents are paying a lot more attention to the problem – and that kids are getting more aware," says Joseph Califano Jr., the former secretary of health, education, and welfare who conducted the survey.

That's certainly true here at Athens Drive, one of the most diverse quarters of the city. Packed with faces of all shapes and colors, the school is described by one parent as "not rich, but not poor." As with other schools in the district, security guards on bikes and other means of stepped-up enforcement have made a difference.

School officials also don't dawdle when problems crop up: Junior Ashley Jones saw that with her own eyes. In a small wood behind the bus stop, "druggies" used to convene for business, she says. But last year, officials took notice. Some kids were punished, while custodians cleared out the brushy woods.

"The people who are doing it are going to do it. They're just not doing it at school," says Ashley.

Researchers say that parents also seem to be getting the message. "I think to say that [drugs on campus] doesn't happen is an illusion," says Athens Drive mom Rhea Lucovsky. "But I talk to my daughter and her boyfriend."

Moreover, local officials have tried to clear away the cloud of pop-culture drug references with what they call "social norming": Instead of harping on the fact that there are 8 million American teens exposed to drugs at school, new ad campaigns at a growing number of colleges and high schools point out how many kids don't smoke, drink, or take illegal drugs.

"A very important point we need to make is that most kids don't use drugs," says Jennifer DeValance, a spokeswoman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House.

To be sure, experts are quick to point out that "there's no such thing as a drug-free school," in the words of University of Michigan sociologist Lloyd Johnston. In fact, his "Monitoring the Future" study shows that teen drug use has stayed relatively constant since 1997, following a sharp uptick in the early 1990s. "From what I've seen, I'm not sure we've turned the corner yet," he says.

In fact, the new Columbia study finds that more and more kids say that marijuana, specifically, is now easier to buy than beer and cigarettes. Indeed, while officials have rooted the modern-day Spicolis off campus at Athens Drive, other school districts are finding it tough going.

At Florida's North Miami Beach Senior High School, students report that the bathrooms often reek of marijuana, and some students even carry crack pipes on campus.

Freshman Richard Gomez says that half the school is on drugs. "The teachers know kids are taking drugs," but they just don't say anything, says Richard from outside the boys' locker room. "They just don't care."

One teacher also quietly confirmed drug usage on campus. "That study must not have been from Miami," says an apathetic ninth-grade teacher who asked not to be identified, "because some of my students sell drugs right from my classroom."

• Jennifer LeClaire contributed to this report from Miami.

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