A survey showing Napa teens binge drink and experiment with illicit drugs has raised warning flags in Napa.

Part of a report presented to Napa County supervisors last month claims 15 percent of ninth-graders said they had experienced binge drinking.

The report, a compilation from a host of sources and studies, contained a mixed bag of information, ranging from the bad news about drugs and alcohol to good news including a finding that Napa County had the highest rate of child immunizations in the nine Bay Area counties.

The teen alcohol and drug abuse portion of the comprehensive "Community Indicators Report," was based on a survey by the Napa County Office of Education two years ago.

"We are definitely concerned," said Jeanne Title of the county schools' office of safety and wellness. Title wrote a Resource Guide for Parents for the Napa County Office of Education after the original survey was released. Title said a new survey is expected to be released by the end of this year.

"We will be putting quite a bit of energy into high school, educating kids on the effects of alcohol use, and educating educators and parents as well," she said.

Title said grant money is being used to study the effects of drugs and alcohol on children's brains. "Unfortunately, the effects ... on the young brain are stronger than on an adult brain," she said. "We are learning a lot more about those effects, and need to let kids know about it."

It's not just a school issue, she said. "It has to be a community effort."

She said far too many adults give "winks and nods" and let kids hold parties where alcohol is consumed. "There's such a huge societal acceptance," she said.

Binge drinking is of particular concern. "They are drinking to get drunk," Title said of many young people.

Title said advertising tends to glamorize drinking. "(Kids) tie it in with glamour and being cool," she complained.

Napa County Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith said, "It is shocking how many of these kids ... are binge drinking."

The survey showed that by the 11th-grade, 34 percent of the students polled in St. Helena admitted to binge drinking. In Napa 26 percent said they had drunk excessively.

Title warned the numbers of students canvassed were small, and that could affect those averages.

The survey reported most seventh-graders had not yet tried alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. "However, these numbers change dramatically by ninth-grade with 13 percent of the students admitting to smoking marijuana in the past 30 days and approximately 15 percent responding that they had consumed five drinks within a couple of hours, the definition of binge drinking," the county report states.

The survey showed about 1 percent more of St. Helena 11th-graders were likely to try alcohol or drugs than in Napa, but in the ninth-grade, more Napa students said they had tried the contraband.

The report stated more than 95 percent of those polled said they feel safe at school, although between 6 percent and 11 percent responded "yes" when asked if they had ever belonged to a gang.