DRUG USE RISES AMONG OLDER U.S. SCHOOLKIDS.

BOWLING GREEN, KY (Reuters) - More than two in five US high school
seniors used an illegal drug such as marijuana or steroids in the
2000-2001 academic year, the first time the rate has edged up in four
years, a survey released on Thursday said. While rates of illegal
drug use largely stabilized this year among students 12 or older,
alcohol and tobacco use dropped to the lowest level in 13 years, the
survey of more than 75,000 students by the National Parents' Resource
Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) found.

Fifty-two percent of all students from grades six through 12 drank
alcohol during the 2000-2001 school year, down 1% from a year
earlier, and 35% used tobacco, down more than 1% from a year ago.
Both alcohol and tobacco use were at the lowest rates among teens
since the 1987-88 school year. "Efforts to reach early teens with
anti-drug messages successfully reduced drug use by junior high
(grade 6-8) students over the past five years," according to Thomas
Gleaton, who led the survey. "However, during that same period, use
among 12th graders remained flat. Perhaps it's time to target older
students with anti-drug strategies," he said.

The survey found teen drug use was higher, at 38.4%, among those who
lived with their father only, compared to a 20.4% rate among those
living with both parents. Among seniors--usually aged 18--the survey
found that 41.4% had used at least one illegal drug during the
2000-2001 school year, up from 40.2% the year before and about the
same as the rate in the 1996-1997 school year.

More than one in five took drugs once a week. The illegal drugs cited
were marijuana, cocaine, uppers, downers, inhalants, hallucinogens,
heroin and steroids.

Drug use among junior high school students, who are roughly aged 12
to 14, declined marginally last year to 13.7%, continuing a decline
from 20.7% five years ago. The survey, which the organization said is
used by schools and federal policymakers to guide anti-drug efforts,
found the following annual usage rates for individual drugs among
12th graders: -- Marijuana up 0.9% to 32.3%; -- Uppers (or speed)
rose 0.7% to 9.8%; -- Downers up 0.6% to 7.7%; -- Heroin rose 0.3% to
3.2%; -- Steroids rose 0.3% to 3.5%.