SMOKING, SUBSTANCE ABUSE HOLD STEADY AMONG YOUTHS

Survey Finds 2-Year Drops, 10-Year Increases

The number of Maryland teenagers and preteens who use alcohol, tobacco or
drugs appears to have declined slightly in recent years, according to a new
survey released by the state.

Yet the use of marijuana and cigarettes among a range of adolescent age
groups surveyed remains higher than when semiannual statewide surveys began
a decade ago, suggesting that anti-drug education efforts may be slow to
have an effect.

For example, 28.6 percent of high school seniors reported smoking
cigarettes in the past month--down from 32 percent two years ago, but still
up from 24.1 a decade ago.

Among eighth-graders, 10 percent reported using marijuana in the past
month, up from 3.5 percent in 1988.

Officials at the Maryland State Department of Education expressed concern
about the continued high rates of substance abuse but noted that Maryland
high school seniors are less likely than their peers across the nation to
have used alcohol or cigarettes recently.

They said they believe the increase could reflect cuts in funding for
anti-drug programs during the recession of the early '90s, but noted that
usage rates seem to be declining after peaking six or eight years ago.

"It's up [from 10 years ago]," acknowledged department spokesman Sandy
Shepherd, "but it's dropping back again."

The most recent edition of the survey, which is given every two years to
students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, was completed by 22,140 students across
the state in December 1998. Results were released earlier this month.

State and local school officials use the survey to pinpoint trends and
problems and to assess the effectiveness of their own initiatives to
discourage substance abuse.

In recent years, many districts have started taking the results more
seriously than before. Carroll County officials, for instance, say that at
first they paid little attention to a 1994 rise in the small number of
seniors who reported trying heroin.

"We thought it was a blip in the screen," said Joanne Hayes, the county
school system's coordinator for anti-drug programs. But later, the
rural-suburban county saw a surprising number of heroin overdose deaths
among young people.

"Once you have that life experience, it really makes you look at these
numbers," said Hayes. Later, when a 1996 survey showed a 5 percent increase
in the number of sixth-graders who smoke, the county decided to intensify
its anti-tobacco efforts for the next few years.

"It became important to us to never miss anything like that again," Hayes
said.

The brightest news in the survey is the continued drop in the number of
older teenagers who reported drinking alcohol in the previous month.

Among seniors, 48.4 percent had had a drink in the previous 30 days, down
from 52.4 percent two years earlier and 60.2 percent in 1988. Of
sophomores, 42.9 percent reported drinking in that time period, down from
43.7 percent in the last survey and 50.5 percent a decade earlier.

But the trend lines have held mostly steady for younger children. About
26.6 percent of eighth-graders and 9.1 percent of sixth-graders reported
drinking, compared with 27.2 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, a
decade earlier.

Meanwhile, more children were using drugs than did 10 years ago, though the
number was slightly smaller than two years ago--28.1 percent of all high
school seniors and 15 percent of eighth-graders.

Marijuana appears to be continuing its reign as the drug of choice--used by
24.2 percent of seniors sometime in the previous month, up from 15.1
percent in 1988. And so-called designer drugs, such as the amphetamine
derivative Ecstasy, have also shown small but significant inroads over the
years. Of seniors, 3.1 percent had used them in the past 30 days.

For the first time, this year's survey asked students in grades 8, 10 and
12 how they feel about school safety.

Roughly 80 percent said they never or rarely feel unsafe at school or in
their neighborhoods. The older students were less likely to say they ever
felt unsafe.

State officials said the survey also demonstrated the strong influence of
parents in the decisions that young people make. Teenagers who did not use
drugs or alcohol were far more likely to report that they "always" have an
adult available to talk with them, make sure they wake up on time and worry
about their whereabouts.

They also were more likely to report sharing at least one meal a day with
their families or at least one weekly activity.

"Even though peer pressure is tremendous, what parents say and do has more
to do with that than they think," Shepherd said.