STUDY HIGHLIGHTS

The annual Monitoring the Future study has examined teen drug use and
attitudes since 1975. The anonymous survey was administered early this year
to nearly 50,000 teenagers in 422 randomly chosen classrooms by the
University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

ANY DRUG: Nearly 30 percent of eighth-graders have tried an illegal drug at
least once. It was 45 percent for 10th-graders, 54 percent for high school
seniors. This was the first year the figure had dropped for the older two
groups and the second yearly drop among eighth-graders.

MARIJUANA: This most widely used drug was tried by 22 percent of
eighth-graders, 40 percent of 10th-graders and nearly half of 12th-graders.
Use among eighth-graders dropped for a second year; use among other teens
dropped after several years on the rise.

STIMULANTS: Use has declined for two years among eighth-graders and for one
year among 10th-graders, and is level among 12th-graders. About 7 percent of
eighth-graders used amphetamines in the past year. It was 11 percent of
10th-graders and 10 percent of 12th-graders.

HALLUCINOGENS: All grades showed declines, though they were not
statistically significant.

INHALANTS: Popular with younger teens, use began gradually declining three
years ago.

HEROIN: Stable use across all grades and increasingly viewed as risky.

COCAINE: Small increases in use of crack cocaine in younger grades.

ALCOHOL: Continued stable use among eighth- and 10th-graders. After
increasing among 12th-graders last year, it was stable among them, too.
About seven in 10 sophomores said they had drunk alcohol, and one-third of
seniors reported being drunk in the last month.

CIGARETTES: A drop from last year's all-time high among high school seniors,
with 22.4 percent smoking daily. That still was higher than the low point of
17.2 percent in 1992. Black teens continue having the lowest smoking rates,
with just under 15 percent of black seniors saying they smoked in the past
month.

Checked-by: Don Beck