TEENS' DRUG USE DOWN, SURVEY FINDS

Fewer U.S. teenagers are smoking marijuana, the most widely used illicit
drug, but the percentage using the synthetic drug Ecstasy has doubled since
1995, an annual survey released yesterday showed.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which surveyed 7,290 teenagers
ages 12 to 18 nationwide, found their overall drug use stable between 1999
and 2000, and down significantly from 1997.

"The shifts we're seeing with marijuana--which by and large represents the
bulk of illicit drug use among kids--suggest good things for the future,"
Richard Bonnette, the partnership's president and chief executive, said in
a statement.

The study found that this year, 40 percent of teenagers reported trying
marijuana at least once, down from 44 percent in 1997. It found that 33
percent of those surveyed this year had used marijuana during the past
year, down from 36 percent three years ago. In addition, 21 percent said
they had used the drug in the past month, down from 24 percent in 1997.

The increased use of Ecstasy, a so-called party drug with amphetamine-like
and hallucinogenic properties, "demands our attention," though the number
of such users is relatively small, Bonnette said.

The survey found that 10 percent of the young people surveyed reported
trying Ecstasy at least once, up from 7 percent last year and 5 percent
five years ago. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America said this trial use
of Ecstasy has become comparable to teen trial use of cocaine and LSD and
exceeds the trial use of heroin.

Overall, trial use of drugs declined to 48 percent of those sampled in 2000
from 53 percent in 1997, while past-year use fell to 39 percent from 43
percent and past-month use dropped to 25 percent from 28 percent, the
survey showed.

The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

The study is posted on the organization's Web site: www.drugfreeamerica.org.