SURVEY UNCOVERS DRUG USE DOWN AMONG CHILDREN

WASHINGTON -- The use of illegal drugs by children ages 12 to 17 dropped sharply from 1997 to 1999, the federal government said Thursday. And while drug use among people 18 to 25 went up, it was still far below what it was two decades ago.

The heartening trend among those 12 to 17 is the most important finding of the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, said Donna Shalala, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House office on drug control policy.

Both officials said nationwide educational and preventive efforts are working, especially among the young. "Most of our young people are obviously getting the message that drugs are not the stuff of dreams, but the stuff of nightmares," Shalala said.

McCaffrey said, "Watch this population. It's cheaper to deal with them now than when they enter the criminal justice system."

Steep Declines

The study found a 21 percent drop from 1997 to 1999 among those 12 to 17 who said they had used an illegal drug in the month before they were surveyed. Nine percent of those 12 to 17 reported using an illicit drug in 1999, compared with 11.4 percent who admitted drug use in 1997.

The use of marijuana in that age group showed a steeper decline than overall drug use, declining by 26 percent. While 9.4 percent of the young people surveyed in 1997 said they had used marijuana in the preceding month, only 7 percent of those surveyed last year said they had. Because marijuana remains the most popular illicit drug among youths, the officials found its decline in popularity encouraging.

But the survey results among people 18 to 25 -- who are among those most likely to commit crimes -- showed a worsening problem, at least recently. Use of illicit drugs rose 28 percent in two years; that is, 14.7 percent in this age group reported using an illicit drug in 1997, while 18.8 percent said they had done so in 1999.

A statement issued with the survey findings predicted that those in the 18-to-25 group, ``which includes many of those who formed their attitudes about drug use and began to use in the early 1990s,'' will continue to use drugs at a relatively high rate as they age.

A far higher percentage of people who were in the 18-to-25 group two decades ago were drug users, government data released Thursday showed. About 38 percent in that age group used illicit drugs in 1979, after which the percentage declined steadily to just under 15 percent in the mid-1990s before climbing again.

The change among the 12-to-17 group has been less dramatic. About 16 percent in that age group reported using illegal drugs in 1979. The percentage declined until 1992, when it began a see-saw pattern.

In an intriguing first, the yearly report captured which brands of cigarettes are most popular among young smokers.

Marlboro is the usual brand of almost 55 percent of smokers between the ages of 12 and 17, followed by Newport (21.6 percent) and Camel (9.8 percent). No other brand claimed even 2 percent of smokers in that age group. And while white and Latino children overwhelmingly prefer Marlboro, almost three-quarters of young black smokers choose Newports.

Experts say those varying ethnic preferences, which are far sharper than ethnic differences in brand-loyalty among adults, underscore children's particular receptiveness to advertising by the tobacco industry. Newports and other menthol cigarettes, for instance, are widely marketed to blacks.

Danny McGoldrick, research director of the Tobacco-Free Kids Campaign in Washington, noted that Marlboro, Newport and Camel are the three most heavily advertised brands of cigarettes generally. The brands' heavy use by children tracks with the scale of their makers' advertising budgets, he said.

By contrast, none of the three brands command the market share of adults that they do among younger smokers. That suggests that youths are more likely than adults to be swayed by advertising, McGoldrick said. A survey that measured strong recall of such ads by young people underscores the same point, he said.

For the total population 12 and older, the rate of illicit drug use has remained flat for several years. The government estimated that 14.8 million Americans, or 6.7 percent of those 12 and older, had used drugs in the month before they were surveyed. In 1979, the percentage was roughly twice as high.

Previous surveys relied on a sample of about 18,000 people who were questioned in person or through paper forms. The latest survey used both the old methodology and a new, computer-based questionnaire that expanded the sample size to almost 70,000 people. In this way, Shalala and McCaffrey said, they can reliably gauge the latest trends while establishing a more comprehensive base of information for future studies. (Detailed findings from the study are available on the Internet at www.samhsa.gov .).

Certain Groups Excluded

The government noted that the latest study did not cover military people on active duty, people in prisons or drug-treatment centers, or homeless people who were not in shelters when the survey was being conducted.

Alaska had the highest rate of illicit drug use (10.7 percent of those 12 and older) and Virginia the lowest (4.7). The rate of drug use among American Indians and Alaska Natives was 10.6 percent. For blacks, it was 7.7 percent, and for whites, 6.6 percent. Asian-Americans had the lowest drug-use rate, 3.2 percent.

The survey released Thursday is a cornucopia of information, and not just on illegal drugs. It estimates that 6,400 people tried marijuana for the first time in 1998. That year, an estimated 1.6 million people -- half younger than 18 -- took up cigarette smoking. And 4.9 million tried cigars for the first time in 1998, up from 1.5 million new cigar smokers in 1991.

"We have a long way to go," Shalala said, "miles to go in our journey to a drug-free America."