About one in four high school students in the Washington area has bought, sold or been offered drugs at school in the past year, according to a federal survey.
Other students — about one in 12 males — admitted to bringing guns, knives or other weapons on school property in the past month in Maryland, Virginia and the District.
Here’s what local high school students told The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they had been up to, per the federal organization’s 2011 survey on risky youth behaviors:
Offered, sold or given an illegal drug by someone on school property in the past 12 months
• 30.4% in Maryland
• 24.0% in Virginia
• 22.6% in D.C. (This figure’s been declining since at least 2003, when 30.2% of students reported this.)
Have gone binge-drinking, or had five or more drinks within a couple hours, in the past month.
• 18.4% in Maryland
• 15.7% in Virginia
• 12.6% in D.C.
Drank alcohol on school property in the past month
• 5.3% in Maryland
• 3.3% in Virginia
• 6.7% in D.C.
Have ever used marijuana
• 37.0%, 5.7% on school property in Maryland
• 31.9%, 3.5% on school property in Virginia
• 43.0%, 7.9% on school property in D.C.
Carried a weapon on school property
• 5.3% in Maryland (These numbers reach 7 and 8 percent for male students.)
• 5.7% in Virginia
• 5.5% in D.C.
Were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property
• 8.4% in Maryland
• 6.0% in Virginia
• 8.7% in D.C.
– Lisa Gartner
