PORTSMOUTH — For the first time in years, there’s apparently good news when it comes to local youths’ drinking habits.

According to the 2015-2016 Portsmouth Youth Substance Abuse Needs Assessment recently released by the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition (PPC), alcohol use at Portsmouth High School has dropped by more than 17 percent over the past two years — from 42.5 percent in 2014 to about 25 percent this year.

In addition, marijuana went down by about 7 percentage points and prescription drug use by slightly over 4 percentage points at PHS.

The third needs assessment conducted in town was prepared by John Mattson Consulting and used the Rhode Island Student Survey administered last spring at both the middle and high schools in grades 7-12. In all, 990 out of 1,261 total students responded. To read the report in its entirety, click here.

The study also contained information gathered from five focus groups — three with students in grades 8, 9/10 and 11, and two with parents in Portsmouth and Little Compton.

“Dramatic drops were reported in use rates for alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs over the past two years at the high school for all grades,” stated the report, which was presented to the Town Council Nov. 14.

Alcohol use dropped at the middle school by 13 percentage points — from 15.6 percent in 2014 to 2.6 percent in 2015, according to the report. Marijuana use was reported as being down by 7.6 percentage points at the middle school

“I don’t want to get carried away and say we’ve got everything under control, but this is the first time we’ve seen a reversal in the rates and that’s a very positive thing,” said Ray Davis, coordinator for the PPC, which has been studying substance abuse rates in town for more than five years.

Presence of SRO cited

Still, Mr. Davis conceded, “I was surprised by the reduced rate in alcohol. It’s lower than what it was, which means the community is doing something right. I firmly believe it’s because we have police department a school committee, a school administration, a Prevention Coalition, kids and parents who want to make changes.”

Mr. Davis and Mr. Mattson pointed to a number of factors for the encouraging news, including the creation last year of a school resource officer (SRO) position at Portsmouth High School. The Town Council recently voted to accept a $250,000 grant that will allow a second SRO to serve primarily the middle school as well as the two elementary schools.

Students at PHS in all three focus groups agreed that the situation with substances at the school has much improved since the SRO was hired, according to the study.

“Having a school resource officer is making a huge difference,” said Mr. Davis. “The value is finding out about this stuff before it happens. We as a coalition has been asking for that as long as I’ve been coordinator, which is six years.”

He thanked town leaders for making that possible after the PPC’s encouragement. 

“Portsmouth used to have a reputation of burying their hands in the sand when it comes to this stuff. I think we’re helped change that climate,” Mr. Davis said. “We’ve gotten the schools to change their chemical health policy to include things like vaping. We got them to revamp their health curriculum.” 

He also pointed to programs such as Life of an Athlete — a national initiative that provides education and awareness on the dangers of alcohol and other drugs — as well as the support pupils receive from the student assistance counselor.

Marijuana still a concern

Despite the good news on drinking habits, marijuana is still an area of concern, he said. 

Although use of the drug was down slightly overall, the study found a “noticeable jump” in reported marijuana use from grades 9 to 10 — from 7.9 percent of ninth-graders who reported using it at least once in the past 30 days to 28.3 percent of 10th-graders. In addition, about 16 percent of 11th-graders and 23 percent of 12th-graders reported driving after using marijuana.

The way in which peers view marijuana use is not helping matters, according to the study. Mr. Mattson said only about 47 percent of high school students believed smoking marijuana once or twice a week put them at moderate or great risk or harm, compared to 80 percent for smoking cigarettes and 70 percent for binge drinking at all grade levels.

In addition, the peer disapproval rate for marijuana is now lower at the high school (48 percent) than it was in 2013 (64.3 percent).

“They actually think that decriminalization makes it legal, which it’s not,” added Mr. Davis. “They also think it’s a medicine, so it can’t be that bad.”

However, today’s marijuana is far more potent than in the past and easier to obtain, he said. Most students responded “yes” when asked in focus groups whether they could obtain marijuana in the next 30 minutes, he said.

Help with grants?

Mr. Davis said he hopes evidence of a downward trend in substance abuse use in the schools could lead to the PPC securing future grants— such as the five-year, $625,000 Drug-Free Communities grant the Coalition applies for year after year.

“I’d like to be able to get the grant for the town because we could do some really good things,” he said.

“The good news is we’re making some headway here in Portsmouth. The students need to be congratulated for being smart. We talk a lot about the kids who aren’t doing the right thing, but we need to pay attention to the kids who are.”