DRUG USE SLOWS AS TEENS HEED DANGERS

Government reports use of drugs, alcohol stable for second year

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Teen drug use has stabilized after years on the
rise, the government reported Friday, though it's still much higher
than in the early 1990s.

Drug use rose through most of this decade after the intense prevention
efforts of the `80s were relaxed, researchers say. But now schools,
parents and TV are again focused on the dangers, and researchers say
teens are again getting the message.

The annual report has now marked two straight years of steady -- and
in some cases, dropping -- drug and alcohol use, suggesting that the
rising trend truly has been stemmed.

"Last year we said there was a `glimmer of hope,'" said Donna Shalala,
secretary of Health and Human Services. "Today, that glimmer of hope
is not only still with us, it has actually grown."

The survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders also found more
adolescents disapprove of drug use. And, in a particularly bright
spot, younger teen-agers are even less likely to use drugs than last
year.

"It's the best news we've had to give the country for some years now,"
said veteran lead researcher Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan.

Teen drug use became a serious problem in the late 1960s, peaking in
1979. It then fell through the 1980s, hitting a low in 1991 and 1992
before beginning to climb again.

Johnston suggested a cyclical pattern: When use was lower, teens saw
fewer peers suffering from the effect of drugs.

"They weren't seeing the consequences," he said.

At the same time, reduced drug use in the late 1980s allowed the news
media, parents and schools to relax and cut back on prevention
efforts, he said. Federal spending on prevention remained stagnant
through the early and mid- 1990s.

"All the institutions that might be influencing young people were
tiring of the issue," he said.

Now, he and others suggested, teens are again hearing more anti-drug
messages and seeing the effects of drug use on others.

"America's team effort is starting to pay off," said Barry McCaffrey,
director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

He promised the nation would not let down its efforts again. "We learn
by seeing others make mistakes," he said.

Still, nine in 10 high school seniors say it's easy to get marijuana,
and the number using is still high, said Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana
Policy Project, which supports relaxation of drug laws.

Nearly one in four eighth-graders and almost half of high school
seniors reported smoking marijuana at least once. "What they're doing
is not working," Thomas said.

This year's survey found a decrease in the use of any drug among all
grades, with eighth-graders seeing their second drop in a row.

Overall, 41.4 percent of high school seniors reported using drugs in
the last year, down from 42.4 percent. Among 10th-graders, it was 35
percent, down from 38.5 percent in 1997. Over two years, use among
eighth-graders dropped to 21 percent from 23.6 percent.

Marijuana use accounted for most of the increase in overall drug use
in the 1990s, and it also is accounting for much of the drop. Use
declined among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders this year -- the second
decline in a row for eighth-graders.

There were also hopeful trends in teen attitudes toward drugs. A rise
in teen disapproval of drugs is usually followed by a decline in actual use.

More young teen-agers said there was a "great risk" in trying
marijuana once or twice, up to 28.1 percent from 25.3 percent. And 45
percent said there was great risk in occasional pot smoking, also up
from last year.

But the news was not all good among eighth-graders. There was an
increase in the number who had tried crack or cocaine, though the

number was still small. Crack use among older teen-agers was steady.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady