VALPARAISO | The first phase of a four-year study shows that young people in Northwest Indiana are abusing drugs and alcohol at higher rates than their peers elsewhere in the state.

The study found:

- Nearly 43 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 25 participate in binge drinking on a monthly basis.

- There is a higher consumption rate of marijuana among students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades.

- There is a higher rate of cocaine and heroin use among students in eighth and 12th grades.

- Demand for heroin treatment was higher in Porter County and has increased in recent years.

The findings are part of a shared effort to gain a better understanding of the drug and alcohol problem among 18- to 24-year-olds across the region, said Larry Baas, a Valparaiso University political science professor who is lending a hand as director of the university's Community Research and Service Center.

Various local agencies will use the results to better approach and tackle the problem, as well to justify requests for the necessary state funding for those efforts, Baas said.

"This is rational policy making," he said. "We'll have data."

Porter is among 12 counties around the state to receive a grant that provides $193,000 annually to combat drug and alcohol problems, according to the university.

Of the many county-based entities involved in the initiative, Porter-Starke Services is administering the grant, and Valparaiso University is compiling and analyzing the data.

The research currently is focusing on consumption patterns of alcohol and drugs and the consequences of substance abuse, Baas said.

Five of seven school districts in the county are helping the effort by surveying elementary, middle and high school students, he said. Area colleges also are participating, and researchers are seeking more information from police and hospital records.

Elliott Miller, interim program director for the initiative, said the study is somewhat unique in that it steps back from an otherwise emotional issue and looks at it from a logical, strategic point of view.

Officials then can determine what is working and perhaps direct money toward new approaches.