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In July 2009, the New Jersey Department of Education released the results of the 2007 Student Health Survey. Students participating in the survey answered questions about health-related behavior in six areas linked closely to preventable illness and injury among young people, including unintentional injuries (safety) and violence, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, sexual behavior, dietary behavior, and physical activity.

According to the survey results, lifetime use of marijuana and cocaine remained stable at 36 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Recent use (within the 30 days prior to the survey) of marijuana and cocaine also were unchanged from 2005 findings, at 19 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Lifetime use of inhalants, steroids, methamphetamines, heroin and needle use all were similar to levels in 2005, maintaining reductions from 2001 levels of lifetime use.

The survey showed a decrease in the number of students who reported being offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school property within the previous 12 months (from 33 percent in 2005 to 25 percent in 2007). Lifetime alcohol consumption decreased slightly (by 3 percent to 76 percent compared with 2005), but recent alcohol use and recent binge drinking both increased 4 percent to 51 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Lifetime and recent cigarette use both declined in 2007 to 47 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy commented: "Capturing an honest account of teen behavior is important for the overall health and educational well-being of New Jersey's young people. ... It is important for parents and educators to understand the habits of our youth and the pressures they face every day so we can help them make healthy life choices."

(Source: www.shorenewstoday.com)

Labels: student health survery, department of education, new jersey

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In July 2006, New Jersey law enforcement officers broke a major, youth-run drug ring in New Jersey, rounding up more than 50 teens and young adults in connection with the illegal sale of prescription drugs. The drug ring was reportedly making sales of $50,000 per month of the prescription painkiller Oxycodone, mostly to other students and alumni of the local high school.

Those arrested in July included recent graduates of the local high school and star athletes. At the center of the ring was a baby-faced 18-year-old named Evan Rokoszak. At a sentencing in 2007 related to the big drug bust, a New Jersey State Superior Court Presiding Criminal Judge described the teens' activities as "a large-scale drug distribution syndicate," adding that the abuse of prescription drugs "is not so much a plague on our society as a cancer that continues to grow."

Labels: oxycodone, new jersey, drug ring

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