"Cocaine County" is what school authorities call Harford County because of the high level of drug abuse by high school seniors in this county compared to the rest of the state.
And it's not just cocaine that sets Harford apart: County adolescents report a higher use of virtually every controlled substance, except heroin, than the statewide averages.
Those are the findings of a state survey of middle- and high-school students in 1992, a survey that will be repeated this month in Maryland schools. The biennial, statistical sample poll is voluntary and responses are anonymous.
Despite spending more than a million dollars over the past five years on drug prevention programs in the schools, Harford County has a disturbingly high level of substance abuse, including alcohol and tobacco, by its youth.
The only good news, if it can be called that, is that Harford youngsters are a bit older when they begin to experiment with alcohol: 11 years old instead of 9 years old (as in the 1990 survey). That delay can be attributed to the drug-free education program, officials suggest.
Experts can't explain the higher rate of substance abuse in Harford County than elsewhere. Availability of illegal drugs may be higher because of the major East Coast highways and rail line running through the county. Maybe there is less strict local enforcement of laws by authorities, parents and schools.
But the big picture shows a major challenge for the community. Cocaine use by Harford seniors is twice that of the state average, marijuana use is 50 percent higher than statewide, abuse of LSD is higher by one-third.
Equally disturbing is the high rate of abuse of "gateway" drugs by younger students: 50 percent of eighth-graders had drunk beer, 36 percent smoked cigarettes, 10 percent smoked marijuana.
The drug survey statistics were released in a plea to the Harford school board for more local money to be spent on drug education and counseling programs; federal funds will be cut 25 percent next year. More emphasis on counseling, rather than punishment, is needed for drug abusers in the schools, the board was told.
Continued education and treatment efforts are needed to combat this persistent social problem, not only for pupils but for the entire Harford community, if there is any hope to achieve the goal of drug-free schools by the year 2000.