SURVEY FINDS MORE TEENAGE HEAVY SMOKERS, DRUG USERS IN '90S

ATLANTA -- Cocaine, marijuana and cigarette use among high school students
increased during the 1990s, according to a government survey that also says
fewer teens are having sex and those who do are more likely to use condoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, issued Thursday,
showed improvement in some risky behavior: More students wear seat belts
and fewer are carrying weapons or contemplating suicide.

``There is reason to feel optimistic about many of the trends in risk
behaviors among our young people,'' CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan said.
``However, we have much left to do. Too many of our children are still
engaging in activities that put them at risk for health problems now and
into adulthood.''

The increases in smoking and drug use came despite years of
government-funded media campaigns urging teenagers to stay clean and sober.
The drop in sexual activity came during a period in which health officials
urged everyone to practice safe sex to avoid AIDS.

Every two years since 1991, the CDC has distributed questionnaires to a
scientific sampling of students to measure behavior that endangers their
health. This year's survey involved 15,349 students in grades nine through 12.

In 1991, 14.7 percent of the students surveyed said they use marijuana.
That number steadily increased to 26.7 percent in 1999. Students reporting
that they had tried marijuana at least once increased from 31.3 percent in
1991 to 47.2 percent in 1999.

In 1991, 1.7 percent of the students surveyed said they had used cocaine at
least once in the prior month. By 1999, that number had risen to 4 percent.
Those who had at least tried cocaine increased from 5.9 percent in 1991 to
9.5 percent in 1999.

Howard Simon, a representative for New York-based Partnership for a
Drug-Free America, said the past decade had brought increased drug use
among teenagers, but he expected new figures in the past year to show
improvement.

``We have reversed those trends and started to edge back down just in the
last year,'' he said. ``But don't get me wrong, we're still at the top of a
very dangerous and disturbing mountain.''

Although alcohol use has remained steady since 1991, the student survey
indicates more teens are smoking.

In 1991, 27.5 percent of the students surveyed reported they had smoked at
least once in the previous month. That increased to a high of 36.4 percent
in 1997, then dropped to 34.8 percent in 1999. However, frequent cigarette
use gradually climbed from 12.7 percent in 1991 to 16.8 percent in 1999.

Meanwhile, fewer high school students said they had had sex, a trend that
gradually decreased from 54.1 percent in 1991 to 49.9 percent in 1999.