WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - Millions of students are returning to schools where tobacco, drugs and alcohol are readily available and parents, teachers, administrators and communities do little to discourage use of these substances, according to the results of a 6-year study released Wednesday.

``American schools are decidedly not alcohol and drug-free,'' said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman and president of Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, which conducted the massive study of middle and high school students.

Over a 6-year period, the center held focus groups and interviews and surveyed students, teachers and parents annually. The group also analyzed federal substance use data, reviewed more than 1,000 publications, and examined substance abuse prevention programs at schools around the country.

The center estimates that 60% of high school students and 30% of middle school students are returning to schools where illegal drugs are used, kept and sold. Teens say it is easy to get tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. For instance, among 10th graders, 87% said it was easy to get tobacco, 88% to get alcohol and 78% marijuana.

The cost of illicit substance use is high, Califano said. About $41 billion a year is spent to fund special education and tutoring, truancy and student assistance programs, and to cope with teacher turnover and class disruption and violence.

Students who are heavy drinkers or regular marijuana users have poor academic performance and are much more likely to cut classes and drop out of school, Califano said. Students at schools where drugs are kept, used and sold are twice as likely to smoke, drink and use drugs than students who perceive their schools to be drug-free, he added.

Califano said the study ``explodes the myth'' that ''experimentation with cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs is a benign rite of passage.'' He cited federal statistics showing that among the 2.4 million students who had tried cigarettes, 86% were still smoking by 12th grade, and 91% of the 3.1 million who had tried alcohol were still drinking.

Substance abuse seems to be more common when illicit materials are available at school, when teachers and administrators smoke at school, when parents are not engaged, when there is low student attachment to the school or low expectations for student achievement, Califano said. Students at large schools also are at risk, he added.

Students whose parents abuse substances; who have depression, anxiety, learning disabilities or eating disorders; or who move frequently from school to school are also more likely to abuse substances, according to the report.

Parents, teachers, administrators and communities all blame each other, Califano noted. ``It is time for each of us to stop looking out the window and start looking in the mirror,'' he stated.

Zero-tolerance policies, which mean children caught with drugs, alcohol or tobacco are expelled, are not effective, he added. The center found that because there is usually no treatment available or flexibility for a student to return to school, parents, teachers and students are discouraged from reporting substance abuse.

``We think there's room for improvement in those policies,'' he said.

Educational programs, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), have little continuing impact, Califano pointed out. The center calls for education in all 12 years of elementary and secondary school, and a broadening of programs to cover cigarettes and alcohol as well as currently popular drugs like Ecstasy.

Califano also called for more funding for teacher education, counselors in schools and adolescent-specific treatment programs.

Shirley Igo, national president of the Chicago-based National Parent-Teacher Association, said that schools and parents were concerned about substance abuse, and that schools were trying hard to deal with the issues. She said more than one approach was needed, and that age-appropriate education should begin early. Igo also agreed that zero-tolerance policies ignored treatment.

``I think we have to be very careful that we don't punish the offender without also looking at an opportunity to treat the problem,'' Igo said.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, used the occasion of the report's release to call for passage of his Drug Abuse Education, Prevention and Treatment Act, which would provide $900 million to fund substance abuse treatment, including programs for teens.

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