NATIONAL SURVEY - TEEN DRUG USE DOWN

DURHAM -- When Northern High School Principal John Colclough heard
that a national survey showed teen drug use was down, he was -- not
surprisingly -- pleased.

And he "hoped with all his heart" it was true.

"It's certainly encouraging," Colclough said. "I am hoping that it is,
in fact, a trend."

Colclough was referring to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, a study performed annually by the Research Triangle Park-based
RTI for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
or SAMHSA.

The survey, released last week, showed that the number of 12- to
17-year-olds who reported using illicit drugs has declined steadily
since 2002, when 11.6 percent of teens said they had used in the prior
month. In the 2005 survey, 9.9 percent said they had.

Similarly, in 2005, 16.5 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds said they had
used alcohol in the past month, a drop from the 17.6 percent recorded
in 2004.

While RTI researchers surveyed neighborhoods in local counties, the
2005 numbers in the SAMHSA report show just national trends. But other
numbers culled locally showed similar trends.

Mental health workers in Orange and Chatham counties tend to look
toward the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial study facilitated by
the Centers for Disease Control, to show the rates of adolescent drug
use in the area, said Billie Guthrie, director of The Community
Backyard, a mental health organization.

The most recent version of those studies shows teen illicit drug use
down slightly in those counties, she said.

But overall drug use has remained steady -- and underage alcohol use
is something local groups are working on, Guthrie said.

"Nothing shockingly increasing or decreasing," she said. "The issue
that still remains is with our young people and alcohol use."

According to the SAMHSA report, 8.1 percent of the total population
older than 12 reported using illicit drugs in the month before the
survey was taken.

But Durham County shows a decrease, according to numbers culled from
SAMHSA reports by the Durham-based Alcohol and Drug Counsel of North
Carolina.

In 2004, an estimated 7.8 percent of the population was addicted,
according to the counsel, compared with 9.8 percent in 2003. During
the same period, the number of total addicts in the state remained
about the same.

Meanwhile, between 2002-03 and 2003-04, illicit drug use among 12- to
17-year-olds fell from 13.62 percent to 11.07 percent, according to
numbers from SAMHSA.

Colclough said anecdotal evidence shows drug use is falling in the schools.

"We have not seen as many incidences of drugs as we have in the past,"
he said. "We don't discount the surveys. It would be foolish to do that."

While the numbers themselves may mean little to addiction counselors
and mental health specialists, they can provide useful clues to what
treatments work for alcoholism and addictions, said Jennifer
Rounds-Bryant, a psychiatrist and director of programs at the Alcohol
and Drug Counsel.

"Substance abuse is treatable, and treatment works," she said. "Just
like we know treating a disease such as heart disease is worthwhile,
so is drug abuse treatment."