Survey shows low substance abuse rates in Grundy County schools

GRUNDY CENTER – A recent survey conducted by Grundy County Public Health shows that drug and alcohol use by youths in Grundy County is lower than the national average, and has even improved since last year.
“I was happy to see the decline continue in tobacco and alcohol use, as compared not only to last year’s survey, but also with the national averages,” said Katie Thornton-Lang, Grundy County Public Health Team Lead. “I will be waiting to see how these fall in with the information coming out in June, but we still saw a decline in the usage, which I hope is contributed a lot to education and media pushing the negatives of using these products.”
The anonymous survey was taken by a total of 318 high school students from Grundy Center, BCLUW, Dike-New Hartford and Gladbrook-Reinbeck.
The survey shows that 12.6 percent of students reported trying cigarettes at least once, compared to 13.1 percent of students who took the survey last year. Compared to the national average of 40 percent, which was last measured in 2013, the number of students who have tried cigarettes in Grundy County is extremely low.
For the full story, see the May 19 edition of The Grundy Register.