Drug use throughout the United States has been a continuous problem with cocaine laws not going into effect until 1914, the war on drugs in the 70s and the increasing percentage of Americans as young as 12 partaking in illegal drugs today.
According to Drug Abuse Statistics, teenagers in Indiana were over 2 percent more likely to use drugs within the last month than the average American teen and over 12 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds in Indiana reported using marijuana in the last year.
Needless to say, drugs are a big problem among young Americans and Indiana students are even more prone to using drugs than others their same age.
In an effort to fight this problem, Cascade High School has beefed up their policies and measures in regard to drug use on campus. The administration has implemented many new policies to help eradicate the presence of drugs from the school and is also increasing measures to keep their students safe.
New initiatives that have been implemented this school year include random drug dog searches and a partnership with the Willow Center, an addiction treatment center located in Brownsburg.
The use of drug dogs is intended to help further eliminate the presence of drugs on the Cascade campus while the Willow Center partnership is designed to help students suffering from an addiction receive the help they need.
The new initiatives have led to a rise in disciplinary actions against drug use, ensuring that the campus is becoming more safe for students.
New principal, Jeff Hansel, has stated that the school district is “continually evaluating our policies and exploring additional partnerships and programs to promote a safe and supportive school environment.”
Students and teachers alike have noticed a change in the campus climate surrounding drugs.
Senior Whitney Smith mentioned a decline in drug use with a decrease, “specifically [in] weed usage in the bathrooms” due to the stricter policies that have been implemented by the administration.
The hope is that the policies will lead to an overall disappearance of any substance use on campus and eradicate any harmful practices.
With the trajectory that the school is currently taking, the hope is that the school climate will rapidly improve and student safety will increase as well.
