HIGHLIGHTS OF TEEN DRUG USE SURVEY

The annual Monitoring the Future study has examined teen drug use and
attitudes since 1975. Some highlights from the 1998 report:

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

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

STIMULANTS: Use has declined for two years among eighth-graders, 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: Downward movement in all grades, though not statistically
significant.

INHALANTS: Most popular among younger teens, use began to gradually decline
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.

TRANQUILIZERS: Steady among eighth-graders but continuing to gradually
increase among 10th- and 12th-graders.

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 have 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 teen-agers continue to have the lowest smoking
rates, with just under 15 percent of black seniors saying they smoked in the
past month.

The anonymous survey was administered early this year to nearly 50,000 teen-
agers in 422 randomly chosen classrooms by the University of Michigan's
Institute for Social Research.

Checked-by: Don Beck