SURVEY FINDS TEENS USING CIGARETTES, DRUGS LESS

Teenagers' drug use declined by 9 percent last year and by 21 percent over
the past two years, mirroring the continuing drop in the crime rate,
according to a major survey that federal officials released yesterday.

The survey of 67,000 people age 12 and older showed that the younger a
person is when he or she first uses marijuana, the greater the chances that
person will become a drug user as an adult. Nearly 9 percent of those who
used marijuana at age 14 or younger used drugs as an adult, while just 1.7
percent of people who used marijuana for the first time at age 18 or older
became drug-dependent adults.

"The survey provides extremely encouraging news," said National Drug
Control Policy Director Barry R. McCaffrey. "We are now seeing a clear
trend: Teen drug use is down significantly and rapidly for two straight years."

The survey also revealed a decline in teen smoking. Cigarette use among
teens fell from 19.9 percent in 1997 to 15.9 percent last year.

Donna E. Shalala, secretary of health and human services, noted that recent
reports have shown a leveling or falling trend in illicit drug, marijuana
and cigarette use among adolescents since 1996 or 1997, after a period of
increases since the beginning of the 1990s.

"All of this is very good news," Shalala said. "But let me be clear: We
have a long way to go. . . . We have miles to go when 14.8 million
Americans were current users of illicit drugs in 1999. And we have miles to
go if even a single young person is letting his or her dreams--and life--go
up in a cloud of marijuana or cigarette smoke."

Howard Simon, spokesman for the Partnership for a Drug Free America, said
several factors account for the drop in teen drug use, including
multimillion-dollar media campaigns by the federal government and private
organizations, and greater dialogue between parents and children about the
hazards of using drugs.

Simon said that although the results of the household survey are
encouraging in regard to teenagers, they highlighted a serious problem
among 18- to 25-year-olds, whose rate of illegal drug use increased 28
percent in the past two years, from 14.7 percent to 18.8 percent. He said
people in that age bracket began using drugs amid the crack epidemic of the
late 1980s and early 1990s and do not have adequate access to substance
abuse programs.

"If a group starts using drugs at a younger age, there is the possibility
they will continue using drugs if we don't do more for people to find
treatment," Simon said. "We need to get more access to treatment. That is
an important part of reducing demand for illegal drugs."

McCaffrey said the rise in drug use among 18- to 25-year-olds confirmed the
need for early intervention with youth to prevent drug abuse among adults.

"Sadly, now that this age group has established drug use patterns, they and
our society will be dealing with the harms associated with increased drug
use and disease, overdoses, health care costs, crime and the like for years
to come as they grow older," he said.

Shalala said this year's National Household Survey on drug use is much
broader and more precise than ever. Previous surveys used paper
questionnaires and a sample size of just 18,000, leaving experts to make
national estimates.

The newly designed survey is interactive, bilingual and computer-based and
for the first time provides breakdowns for the 50 states and the District.

In the District, 7.6 percent of those interviewed said they used illegal
drugs in the past month, while 5.3 percent of those in Maryland and 4.7
percent of Virginians said they used illicit substances.

The study showed that in all three jurisdictions, binge drinking of alcohol
in the past month by people in the 18- to 25-year-old age bracket topped 30
percent. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks on the
same occasion.

Among those in the region age 26 or older, the rate of binge drinking was
much lower, about 16 percent. Among teens, marijuana and cigarettes topped
the list of substances used in the past month.

Locally, teens registered a lower level of binge drinking--in the 7 percent
to 8 percent range.

In response to the report, President Clinton called on Congress to fully
fund the administration's anti-drug and anti-smoking initiatives.

"While today's report shows underage alcohol use is still at unacceptable
levels, it also shows that tobacco use among young people is beginning to
decline significantly following a period of increases earlier in the
1990s," the president said. "These findings prove that we are successfully
reversing dangerous trends and making important progress."