TEENS GET THE MESSAGE

Encouraging Drug-Use Trends Are Seen

The latest state survey on teen alcohol and drug use in Texas indicates
that usage declined during the past two years, and although the declines
aren't sharp they're still important to note.

The survey by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (more than
200,000 students in grades 4-12 completed the surveys this year) indicates
a 15 percent decline in the number of students who had used tobacco in the
month before the survey was conducted, as compared to the number who
reported doing so in the 1998 survey.

Also, past-month use of marijuana dropped 10 percent among secondary Texas
students from two years ago while past-month alcohol use dropped 6 percent.

These figures are encouraging, but they don't paint a complete picture of
substance-abuse problems among Texas teen-agers. It's always sobering to
remember that too many young people in El Paso and across the state are
experimenting with or routinely using alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other
substances.

In El Paso County, TCADA statistics from 1993 to 1997 show that the most
common drugs of choice among young people were, respectively, marijuana,
alcohol and cocaine. One disturbing change during the past few years
indicates greater use of cocaine by teen-agers in El Paso County.

The complete 2000 survey results aren't available yet.

This year, youths from the Socorro, San Elizario, Fabens and Anthony school
districts were polled. The commission has come up with a profile of youth
drug use along Texas' border region, gleaned from previous surveys.

Border areas have slightly higher rates of youth drug use. One out of five
high school seniors on the border had tried cocaine, according to 1998
survey results. Overall, among juniors and seniors on the border, 19
percent reported at least one-time usage of cocaine while the statewide
average was 14 percent.

Alcohol usage is broad statewide, but the past survey indicates that 75
percent of older high school students in border regions reported having
drunk alcohol at least once while the statewide average was 72 percent.

The good news is that the percentage of Texas secondary-grade-level
students who reported that they had consumed alcohol at least once fell
from 75.5 percent in 1988 to 70.7 percent in 2000. Students who said they
had consumed alcohol in the past month fell from 42.8 percent in 1988 to
36.1 percent in 2000.

Other declines charted over the past decade include:

The percentage of secondary students reporting that they had consumed
alcohol at least once fell from 75.5 percent in 1988 to 70.7 percent in
2000. Students who said they used alcohol during the previous month also
fell from 42.8 percent in 1988 to 36.1 percent in 2000.

Fifty-one percent of students in grades 7-12 reported this year that they
had used tobacco at least once, down from 56.2 percent in the 1990 survey.
However, the rate of use during the month before the survey was taken
showed that 22.9 percent of youths in those grades used tobacco in 1990
compared to 22.4 percent this year.

Illicit drug use also fell for secondary students, according to the study.
Past-month use fell from 17.1 percent in 1988 to 15.4 percent in 2000. It
is overly optimistic to conclude that teen-age substance- abuse problems in
Texas will continue to decline. Border communities such as El Paso, which
serve as portals in the drug-smuggling business, must continue to launch
innovative anti-drug programs aimed at young people.