TEEN DRUG USE DECLINE CONTINUES, REPORT SAYS

But More Young Adults Use Illicit Drugs, Study Finds

Although illicit drug use by American teenagers continued a steady decline
last year, more young adults say they use cocaine, marijuana or other
illegal drugs, according to a federal report released Thursday.

According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, about 9% of
youths ages 12 to 17 reported using illicit drugs at least once during the
30 days prior to the interview, compared with 9.9% in the same age category
in 1998 and 11.4% in 1997. This report marks the first time in nearly a
decade that health officials have detected back-to-back declines in teen
drug use.

Health officials credited the drop among youth to increased anti-drug
efforts by parents, school officials and the government but recognized that
the battle was far from being over.

"All of this is very good news," said Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala, who presented the findings at a news conference in
Washington with National Drug Control Policy Director Barry McCaffrey. "But
let me be clear . . . 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."

The survey of nearly 70,000 households estimated that 14.8 million
Americans - 6.7% of the population 12 or older - were users of illicit
drugs in 1999. Marijuana remained the leading drug of choice among
teenagers, with 7.7% having used marijuana, and 5.3% had used some illicit
drug other than marijuana.

But the study found an increase in illicit drug use by young adults ages 18
to 25, with the rate increasing from 14.7% in 1997 to 16.1% in 1999, an
increase of nearly 10%. The trend for marijuana began increasing in 1997
when it was only 12.8%, but was reported as 16.4% in 1999.

"We first began to see increased drug use among this age group several
years ago when they were teens," McCaffrey said. "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 - disease,
overdoses, health-care costs, crime and the like - for years to come."

A change in the survey methods allowed the government to report drug and
alcohol use for the first time on a state-by-state basis. And the results
showed wide variety in the drug and alcohol patterns across the country.

Wisconsin placed 20th in the national survey of drug use, with 7% of the
population over age 12 using illicit drugs within the past month. Alaska
had the highest drug rate, with 10.7% using drugs, while Virginia had the
lowest rate, at 4.7%.

Of the numbers for Wisconsin, 11.8% were teenagers.

For marijuana, Wisconsin ranked 22nd among the states with 5.9% of the
population - 9% of teenagers - reporting current use. Colorado had the
highest use, at 8.1%, while Iowa had the lowest, at 3.5%.

In general, youth drug use was highest in the West and lowest in the South.

The South also reported the nation's lowest rates of binge drinking, while
the Midwest had the highest rates. Binge drinking was most severe in North
Dakota, with 28.7% of people 12 and over reporting binge tendencies, but
Wisconsin wasn't far behind at 26.3%. Maryland had the lowest rate, at 15.3%.

Alaska also reported the highest rates of dependence on illicit drugs, with
7.3% of its population indicating reliance on either alcohol or illicit
drugs. Wisconsin had 4.7% reporting dependence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.