COCAINE USE BY TEXAS SCHOOL KIDS INCREASES

Secondary-school students along the Texas-Mexico border are more likely to
have tried cocaine than their peers in the rest of the state,according to a
statewide survey.

Cocaine use among all Texas secondary-school students increased by 40
percent between 1988 and 1998,the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
said this week.

The findings were based on a survey of more than 150,000 students statewide
in grades 7-12.

One researcher called the findings "outrageous"and said the spike in cocaine
usage can be traced to a combination of the drug's widespread availability
and the strong attention law-enforcement agencies have given crack cocaine,a
highly potent and addictive form of cocaine.