Report: Drug Use Stabilizing Among Teens

Teen drug use has stabilized after increasing for years, the government
reported Friday, though it is still much higher than in the early 1990s.

Drug use rose through most of this decade after the intense prevention
efforts of the 1980s were relaxed, researchers said. But now schools,
parents and TV are again focused on the dangers, and researchers said teens
are again getting the message.

The annual report has now marked two straight years of steady and, in some
cases, decreasing drug and alcohol use, suggesting that the trend of
increases has been halted.

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

The survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders also indicated 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 said it is easy to get marijuana, and
the number of them using it remains 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 indicated 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. In 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.

The Monitoring the Future survey, which has tracked teen-age drug use since
1975, relied on nearly 50,000 teen-agers, who remained anonymous, at 422
schools across the country early this year.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski