Manhasset students are more likely to try electronic cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol as cultural perceptions of the risks associated with their use have become increasingly relaxed in recent years, according to the results of the district’s Bach Harrison Prevention Needs Assessment Survey provided by the Manhasset chapter of the Coalition Against Substance Abuse Inc.

“I think today, with what’s going on in the country, it can be a confusing time for kids,” said Cathy Samuels, the project director of Manhasset CASA, citing marijuana legalization efforts, a higher percentage of beer and liquor advertisements aired during televised sporting events and the rise of electronic cigarettes as a viable means of quitting smoking.

Offered biannually and anonymously to students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades, the Bach Harrison Prevention Needs Assessment Survey identifies the use of substances within public school communities that receive CASA’s Drug Free Communities Support Program Grant.

The Manhasset School District’s chapter is also funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in conjunction with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Traditionally tracking the use of alcohol, cigarettes and illegal drugs, this year’s survey also measured the use of anabolic steroids, hookah tobacco and electronic cigarettes for the first time.

“Our goal is for Manhasset youth to grow up in a safe environment equipped with the tools to become healthy young adults,” said Caryn Sawyer, Manhasset CASA’s executive director, in a statement. 

Students surveyed — 705 in total, up from 646 in 2013 — reported an increased availability of alcohol by retailers (48 percent of 12th graders and 9.1 percent of 10th graders said they purchase alcohol themselves) and restaurants or bars (55.2 percent of 12th graders, 17.5 percent of 10th graders and 13.9 percent of eighth graders reported being served). 

They also cited their own or someone else’s home, public events and open areas like parks and beaches as the places where their drinking is most likely to take place.

Approximately 85 percent of eighth graders surveyed reported having never tried alcohol, but that figure dropped to 23.3 percent of 12th graders who also reported fewer perceived risks associated with binge drinking, which was defined on the survey as having five or more drinks in one sitting. 

“It’s an issue not just across our community, but across the country,” Samuels said.

While 58 percent of eighth graders reported concern they would be caught by police, only 24.8 percent of 10th graders and 16.7 percent of 12th graders agreed. 

“I think [the perception of risk] is more indicative of the mindset of kids, rather than the[ir view of the] effectiveness of law enforcement,” Samuels said.

Risk perceptions of marijuana use also dipped across the grade levels surveyed, with 87 percent of eighth graders associating risk with its use to just 76.1 percent of 10th graders and 43.1 percent of 12th graders. 

A quarter of Manhasset 12th graders surveyed reported using marijuana within the last 30-day period, indicative of a slight increase from those surveyed in 2013 and a four-point decline from 2011 but nearly three times the rate of 10th graders (7.4 percent), a trend consistent with the last two surveys.

The 2015 survey also found that Manhasset students are more likely to use unprescribed amphetamines (5.7 percent of 12th graders and less than 2 percent of both eighth and 10th graders) than opiates, whose use has become a hot-button topic for law enforcement and politicians throughout the northeast. 

Though 83.5 percent of 12th graders surveyed reported they had never tried traditional cigarettes, 27.8 percent said they have used electronic cigarettes, eclipsing the 17.1 percent national norm.

The Manhasset School District recently added electronic cigarettes to its policies on maintaining tobacco-free campuses, and in April the Town of North Hempstead outlawed the use of electronic cigarettes from its 47 parks.

Less than 1 percent of eighth, 10th and 12th graders reported using steroids, but more than 5 percent of eighth graders and 13 percent of 12th graders reported smoking hookah.