MAKING SENSE OF MASS. DRUG USE STATISTICS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Illegal drug use continues to drop nationwide among
young teens, according to the government's latest annual survey, which
showed Massachusetts ranking among the leading drug-abuse states.

Massachusetts had the highest percentage of users in the country in
several categories: 12- to 17-year-olds addicted to illegal drugs, as
well as alcohol; 18- to 25-year-olds using marijuana in the past month;
18- to 25-year-olds using any illicit drugs in the past month, and 26
years of age or older taking any illegal drug other than marijuana.

In earlier regional studies, the Northeast and the West usually led the
nation in illegal drug use, largely because their cities provided a
higher number of users, and both regions have multiple points of entry
for drug smugglers.

Roseanne Pawelec, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public
Health, said another factor could be the large number of colleges in
the region that draw students from all around the country.

"We have the evidence of high use, but we also have the evidence that
treatment works, and so it seems to me that we need to have more
treatment available to people," said Brian J. Sylvester, southeast
regional manager for the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse
Services.

More than 4,200 youths ages 12 to 17 try pot each day for the first
time, according to the National Household Drug Abuse survey, released
Thursday.

Every New England state was in the highest ranks of marijuana use among
18- to 25-year-olds.

In the latest survey, covering 1999, by the Department of Health and
Human Services, 9 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds who were questioned
said they had used an illegal drug in the past 30 days. That's down
from 9.9 percent in 1998 and 11.4 percent in 1997.

Illicit drug use among young adults ages 18 to 25 has climbed 28
percent since 1997, from 14.7 percent of the population that age in
1997 to 16.1 percent in 1998 and 18.8 percent in 1999. Eighty-thousand
people were questioned in last year's survey, which also asked about
tobacco and alcohol use. The government provided no figures for margin
of error with the report.

The study found that children in homes where parents "neither approve
nor disapprove" of cigarette smoking were four times as likely to have
used marijuana in the past month than in homes where parents "strongly
disapprove" of cigarette use.

Fifty-two percent of Americans age 12 and older reported that they used
alcohol, a rate that has remained relatively flat for the past several
years, the survey reported. It also said 19 percent of teens had a
drink within the past month, 7.8 percent reported binge drinking, and
3.6 percent said they were heavy users of alcohol.

Besides Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont showed high rates of
binge drinking among 18- to 25-year-olds.

As for smoking, the study said 30 percent of Americans 12 and older -
66.8 million people - were using tobacco. Of those, 57 million smoked
cigarettes. Others smoked cigars or pipes or used smokeless tobacco.

Massachusetts ranked in the middle of the states for cigarette use for
ages 12 to 25, and lower than most states for those 26 and older.

In Massachusetts, between 700 and 1,000 people were surveyed. But the
state also had one of the lowest response rates to the door-to-door
questioners -- about 62 percent. Connecticut had the lowest rate, with
about 59 percent responding, while Mississippi was highest with 82
percent.