TEEN DRUG USE LEVELS OFF BUT 'CLUB DRUGS' RESURGE

User Preferences Turn From Crack To Ecstasy

WASHINGTON -- An annual study shows that illicit drug use among the nation's
teens is leveling off, health officials said yesterday, though use of
steroids and the drug "ecstasy" is climbing.

"Today's report confirms that we have halted the dangerous trend of
increased drug use among our young people," said Donna Shalala, secretary of
Health and Human Services.

For the 25th straight year, the University of Michigan asked more than
45,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students across the country whether
they used drugs and alcohol each day, over the past year, or in their
lifetime.

The study found that for a third year in a row, reported use of drugs such
as marijuana, amphetamines, hallucinogens, tranquilizers and heroin has
changed little or not at all.

It found that use of crack cocaine dropped 14 percent among eighth-graders
and 27 percent among 10th-graders.

One in four 12th-graders, one in five 10th-graders and nearly one in eight
eighth-graders reported using an illicit drug in the past 30 days.

Gen. Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's drug policy director, said that
while the nation has made some progress in its campaign against drugs, usage
levels remain higher than at the beginning of the decade.

Alcohol use among teens also remained stable compared with last year's
figures. In 1999, about one in 11 eighth-graders, one in five 10th-graders
and one in three 12th-graders reported being drunk during the past month.

"One note of alarm," said McCaffrey, "is the rise in the use of steroids
among youth." Past-month steroid use among 10th-graders increased almost 50
percent.

More young people believe steroids are safe, McCaffrey said.

Lloyd Johnston, the primary researcher for the Michigan survey, suggested
that baseball home run champion Mark McGwire's use of a steroid -- which he
has since discontinued -- may have affected notions about steroids among
young boys. But McCaffrey and Shalala said there was no evidence in the
study linking McGwire's activities with the increased steroid usage.

The study also showed a rise in the use of "ecstasy," a stimulant commonly
used at dance clubs across the country. The survey found that its past-year
use increased among 10th-graders from 3.3 percent to 4.4 percent, and among
12th-graders from 3.6 percent to 5.6 percent.

"While the use of this drug has been declining since we first measured it in
1996, for some reason it made a resurgence in 1999," Johnston said.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has launched an Internet site
(www.clubdrugs.com) to answer teens' questions about ecstasy and other club
drugs.