TEENS' USE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS DROPS

Teenagers' use of illegal drugs has declined significantly in the past
five years, a new government study shows, although the study found a
slight increase in teens abusing prescription painkillers and other
legally available substances.

Comparing data from 2001 and 2006, the federal study found the number
of teens who reported using marijuana within the past 30 days fell 25
percent, while past 30-day use of methamphetamine plunged 50 percent
during the same five-year period.

Teen use of cigarettes, alcohol, steroids, cocaine, heroin and LSD
were also down, in some cases dramatically, the report from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found. Underage drinking is
down more than a third since it peaked a decade ago. Past-month teen
smoking is at an all-time low, with the biggest declines among
12th-graders.

The 32nd annual NIDA "Monitoring the Future" survey, conducted by the
University of Michigan, found that 840,000 fewer adolescents used
illicit drugs in 2006 than in 2001. The 23-percent decline in past 30-
day usage nearly reached President Bush's goal of reducing teens'
illicit-drug use by 25 percent during that time period.

However, officials said they were concerned by other findings in this
year's report -- based on a survey of nearly 50,000 eighth-, 10th- and
12th-graders from 410 public and private schools -- which marked the
first time "Monitoring the Future" examined the frequency of teens
using over-the-counter (OTC) cough-and-cold medicines to get high.

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health,
of which NIDA is a part, said the report showed that 4.2 percent of
eighth-graders, 5.3 percent of 10th-graders and 6.9 percent of 12th-
graders reported such misuse of nonprescription cough-and-cold
medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM), a cough suppressant,
during the past 12 months. DXM -- known by the slang term "dex" or
"skittles" -- is generally safe when taken at recommended levels. But
it can cause harmful side effects, such as alterations of
consciousness or mood, if taken in large amounts, health officials
say.

Coupled with that, the report showed increased teen abuse of
prescription painkillers, Vicodin and Oxycontin, and of stimulants
including Ritalin, which is commonly prescribed for those suffering
attention-deficit disorders.

Authors of the study expressed "significant concern" over the Vicodin
data. Use of that drug by teens rose 0.3 percent between 2002 and 2006
and 0.6 percent just from last year. Vicodin use remained high in all
three grade levels, with nearly one in 10 high-school seniors saying
they had taken it in the past year.

Oxycontin use by high-school seniors dipped between 2005 and 2006 but
not for students in younger grades, the report showed.

University of Michigan researcher Lloyd Johnston, lead investigator in
the study, told reporters at a press conference yesterday that annual
prevalence of Oxycontin use by 12th-graders averaged 4.3 percent this
year, down from 5.5 percent in 2005. But the 2.6 percent annual
prevalence by eighth-graders and the 3.6 percent prevalence by
sophomores were the highest ever. Use among eighth-graders seems to be
increasing rapidly.

"Obviously, relatively few young people are using Oxycontin; still,
given the addictive potential of this strong narcotic drug, I think we
should be concerned about these rates," Mr. Johnston said.

He added: "Because most of the illegal drugs like LSD, Ecstasy,
cocaine and heroin have shown considerable declines in recent years,
while the misuse of prescription drugs has been growing, the latter
have become a more important part of the country's drug problems."

Although use of marijuana also has been declining, it remains the most
widely used of all illegal drugs, Mr. Johnston said.

He and others also expressed concern that eighth-graders two years in
a row have shown a decreased perception of the harmfulness of Ecstasy.
He said too many teens also fail to recognize the dangers posed by DXM
in cough medicines.

"The survey results indicate that the messages we are sending to
students about addiction and drug abuse are having an overall positive
effect," said Dr. Zerhouni. But he called the "rise in prescription-
drug use among the younger grades and the intentional abuse of
over-the-counter medicines ... very disturbing."

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, urged parents to help the Bush administration's
campaign against teen drug abuse by discarding unused and unneeded
drugs from their home medicine cabinets.