[mustmove]

Actively smoke. I'll try and find the link.

[OhBeeHave]

Thanks! That's a rather scary statistic, if you think about it.

[flu189]

There was a recent health study released (don't remember the actual title) that did claim we have one of the highest rates of substance abuse. My contacts in the LE community affirm this and in my travels and contacts with various people I have observed people to be actively using or being under the influence to exceed the casual user template. My wife has made the same observations from her encounters both at work and socially. My employment has absolute zero tolerance for good reason, but I do know from the lab that does our routine tests that the general employer pre screen tests they do for others confirms a high "failure" rate. This is not indicitive of the excuse of I just tried it once or am a casual user. What it is indicitive of is poor self discipline and not caring enough to clean up your act in order to obtain and maintain gainful employment. I realize that we really can't legislate responsibility, but I respect the rights of employers to require their employees to be sober from drugs/alcohol. If you want to limit your options and engage in substance abuse then I guess that is your "right", but don't even think of making me subsidize your failure through my taxes as there so many others worthy of assistance.

[mustmove]

I couldn't find the link, I thought I saw 70% once. But everything I can find says 15% which still makes VT #1 or #2 in drug use. In my previous post where I typed 'actively smoke' I was referring to the population of VT not myself. The pre-employment drug screening numbers came from an article on jobs in the northeast kingdom. I think the culture of the state as far building successful business and having high utility people is affected by the high rate of drug abuse here. Plus it makes me not want to raise my kids in an environment where drug use is ubiquitous.

[Haaziq]

I've never been to Vermont, but from what people tell me, it's Libertarian-leaning. Remember, lack of gun laws isn't something you'd find in a liberal area.

[Sherylcatmom]

I grew up in South Florida and went to high school there in the late '70s, early '80s. At that time and place, drug use was, if not ubiquitous, then highly prevalent. My FL classmates, many of whom spent most of high school living up to the "high" part of their education, are now productive professionals. (I read my alum bulletins.)

Vermont statistics tell one story but not the whole story, and certainly not about a whole state. I know teenagers here, including the many kids that my friends have borne and raised in Vermont, who call themselves "Straight Edge." I had never heard of that term, which apparently refers to kids who take NO drugs or alcohol and includes kids who are into school, sports, music, skateboarding, you name it. The term (and the group) didn't even exist when I was a teenager/young adult.

I mentor a middle school girl who is from a low-income family. She doesn't know of anyone who uses drugs. Her older siblings (from one of the parents' first marriage) have gone on to graduate school. They're all very hard workers.

Is any of this typical? I have no idea and I don't think anyone can prove or disprove it.

I tire of generalizations, "Vermont is this," "Vermont is that." It is all and none of those things. We all make it what it is.

[mustmove]

Originally Posted by Haaziq

I've never been to Vermont, but from what people tell me, it's Libertarian-leaning. Remember, lack of gun laws isn't something you'd find in a liberal area.

Gun rights are in the state constitution and thus very hard to change. If it wasn't for that we'd have plenty of gun laws now.
VT ranks number 1 or 2 in drug use per capita for the US. For HS kids and adults, many young people outgrow messing with drugs but we still have the most adult druggies here. We're number 1 in taxes and 49 in state gross domestic product. Bunch of other things that we are first or last on not a rosy picture. Of course some people get along fine, however after telling friends and acquaintances that I intend to move for economic reasons it is surprising how many people admit they aren't doing as well as you'd guess. They just haven't put it together with location. As usual YMMV.

[flu189]

While I am sure there are numerous examples of folks out there who have more than casual drug use histories who have been able to become productive professionals, I still prefer to err on the side of caution and responsibility. Having sucessfully raised two sons who did not succomb to drug abuse as well as dealing with literally hundreds who have in my professional capacity, I strongly feel we should not try to legitimize and rationalize drug abuse. Afterall, we get all knotted up over soda, junk food, cigarettes, etc.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by flu189

While I am sure there are numerous examples of folks out there who have more than casual drug use histories who have been able to become productive professionals, I still prefer to err on the side of caution and responsibility.

I absolutely and totally agree. My point was not to attempt to legitimize (or vilify) drug use, but to state my frustration with generalizations and stereotypes about entire state populations. Sorry if that got obscured by my examples.

[vter]

I agree Sheryl. Good post.