DRUG USE SLOWS AS TEENS SEE, HEAR MORE ABOUT DANGERS

Drug use among teenagers has stabilized after years on the rise, although
it's still much higher than in the early 1990s, the government reported
Friday.

Drug use rose through most of this decade after the intense prevention
efforts of the 1980s 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.

"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 annual report has now marked two straight years of steady - and in some
cases, dropping - drug and alcohol use.

The survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders also found more adolescents
disapprove of drug use.

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.

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

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

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

Nearly one in four eighth-graders and almost half of high school seniors
reported smoking marijuana at least once.

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.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski