ILLICIT SUBSTANCE USE AMONG TEENS DROPS

Survey: Warnings From Adults Help Kids Avoid Drugs

WASHINGTON -- Drug, alcohol and cigarette use among sixth-to 12th-graders
is at the lowest level in years, partly because adults are doing more to
keep their children away from illicit substances, according to a survey
released Wednesday.

Parents and teachers are warning students about drug use and encouraging
children to nurture other interests by joining extracurricular school and
religious activities, the 2001-02 Pride Survey said.

The percentage of students using any illicit drug -- including marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and others -- dropped to 22.3 percent, the
lowest level registered by the study since the 1993-94 school year.

The percentages of high school students who said they drank alcohol, 65
percent, or smoked cigarettes, 36 percent, in the previous 12 months were
the lowest in the 15-year history of the Pride Surveys.

The results, from data collected between August 2001 and last month, are
the "best report on adolescent behaviors in over a decade" and may reflect
a cultural reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials said.

"Following 9/11, Americans seemed to refocus on family, community,
spirituality and nation," said survey author Thomas J. Gleaton. "That
renewed awareness shows up in the data."

"The Sept. 11 attacks sent shock waves through our nation's schools just as
kids were beginning their school year," said John P. Walters, director of
National Drug Control Policy. "This year's Pride Survey suggests that young
Americans may be taking their lives and communities more seriously by
saying no to drugs."

The survey was conducted at schools that contracted with Pride Surveys to
question students during the 2001-02 academic year. The questionnaires were
answered, voluntarily and anonymously, by 101,882 students in 21 states.

A 1998 federal law named the Atlanta-based survey as a measure of the
effectiveness of White House drug policy.

In the 2000-01 survey, the percentage of 12th-graders who used an illicit
drug in the previous 12 months had remained constant for the fifth
consecutive year at about 41 percent. This year's survey, however, shows a
decline to 37 percent.

Children who are warned away from drugs and encouraged to engage in
extracurricular activities are less likely to take drugs, the survey found.

Among students whose teachers warned them away from drugs "a lot," 15
percent used illicit substances. In contrast, 32 percent of students whose
teachers "never" talked to them about the subject used drugs, the survey found.