On August 27, Health Science Professor Marj Droppa and her students held a panel discussion on campus to launch a semester-long study they’ll be conducting as part of their senior capstone course. The class will conduct research through interviews with Keene High School students and parents to better understand and help reduce the problem of substance abuse among area high school students. The study is intended to gather information that will then influence changes in the school district’s policy on substance abuse.

Keene Board of Education Chairman Chris Coates was on the panel, and he agreed that although there was a “real need for overall drug policy,” the Board did not yet have a formal set of guidelines because it had been focused on the business of education. That means that Dr. Droppa’s study will provide important and needed information to the community. Stay tuned. …