OLDER TEENS REPORT USING FEWER DRUGS

The percentage of U.S. teens who use illegal drugs continued a
decadelong decline this year, particularly among older students, but
the use of prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin remains
high, according to a study released yesterday by President Bush's
drug czar.

The University of Michigan survey of 50,000 students in more than 400
schools nationwide found that the proportion who said they had used
illegal drugs in the previous 12 months - 15 percent of
eighth-graders, 29 percent of 10th-graders and 37 percent of
12th-graders - dipped 0.7 percent, 1 percent and 1.9 percent,
respectively, over the last year.

"There has been a substance abuse sea change among American teens,"
John P. Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, said in a
statement. "They are getting the message that dangerous drugs damage
their lives and limit their futures."

Marijuana, by far the most widely used illegal drug, showed the fifth
consecutive year of decline among 10th-and 12th-graders, the survey
found, but the recent declines in marijuana use have all but halted
among eighth-graders.

Among 12th-graders, the use of Ecstasy rose 1.1 percent, from 3
percent of students in that grade in 2005 to 4.1 percent this year.

And the use of prescription drugs remains high.

OxyContin use among 12th-graders dipped from 5.5 percent in 2005 to
4.3 percent this year. But among younger students, the drug's use
reached its highest levels so far, with an annual prevalence in eighth
grade of 2.6 percent and in 10th grade of 3.8 percent.

"I haven't seen the problem abate," said Andrew Ward, director of
the South Boston Collaborative Center, an outpatient substance-abuse
treatment center.

"The availability of treatment has increased. "But use is still a
significant problem."