TEEN POLL SHOWS POT USE DOWN; ECSTASY DOUBLES SINCE '95

New York-- Teenage marijuana use has dropped for a third straight
year, but a jump in the use of the "club drug" Ecstasy raised new
concerns for parents, according to an annual report by the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

The Nonprofit group's 13th survey, being released today, questioned
7, 290 students in seventh through 12th grades nationwide. The margin
of error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

Use of Ecstasy, a favorite at dance clubs and all-night raves, has
doubled among teens since 1995, the survey found. One in ten teens
has experimented with the drug, it said.

The report found the number of teens who have tried Ecstasy at least
once had increased from 7 percent to 10 percent over the last year.
In contrast, the 40 percent of teens saying they had tried marijuana
was down from 41 percent last year.

It is the third consecutive drop-off in teen marijuana use since
1997, when 44 percent of teens said they had used the drug at least
once.

"We appear to be turning a very important corner," said Richard D.
Bonnette, the partnership's president and chief executive officer.
"But as we turn one corner, troubling developments are coming at us
from other directions--specifically with Ecstasy."

The survey found that were turning off than on by marijuana.
Fifty-four percent felt smoking pot would make them behave foolishly,
up from 51 percent on 1997. Fewer believe most people will try
marijuana: 36 percent now, compared with 41 percent in 1997. And just
21 percent said they had used marijuana in the last month, down from
24 percent in 1997.

Those numbers are significant because they address attitude changes
since the start of a national anti-drug ad campaign in July 1998.

The study found that the number of teens seeing anti-drug advertising
on a daily basis has jumped from 32 percent in 1998 to 49 percent
this year.