TEEN DRUG USE STEADY IN 1998

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Teen-age use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs
remained stable for a second straight year after years on the rise,
with younger teen-agers even less likely to have used drugs over the
past year, according to a government report being released Friday. The
annual report offers a comprehensive look at drug, alcohol and
cigarette use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders. With a few exceptions,
it paints an optimistic picture of American teen-agers, according to a
summary of the findings provided by a Clinton administration official
on condition of anonymity.

The Monitoring the Future survey, which has tracked teen-age drug use
since 1975, asks nearly 50,000 teen-agers questions about drug use and
attitudes and offers the first look at adolescent drug use in 1998.
Teen-agers were surveyed anonymously at 422 schools across the country
over the 1997-98 school year.

The findings were being released Friday by Donna Shalala, secretary of
the Health and Human Services Department, and Barry McCaffrey,
director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"This consistent progress gives reason for optimism," McCaffrey said.
"It demonstrates that our balanced approach -- focusing on preventing
children from turning to drugs, treating drug addicts, and breaking
trafficking organizations -- works."

He added, "Our commitment must be to continuing to make progress
through a 10-year generational effort to lock in and build on today's
gains. If at any point during this long-term process we let down our
guard or squander our momentum we risk repeating with today's youth
the wasted mistakes of past generations."

Last year's report found drug use stabilizing for the first time after
several years on the rise. It also found more adolescents disapproving
of drug use.

This year, the survey finds a drop in the number of 8th and 10th
graders reporting the use of any type of illegal drug. Use among high
school seniors was steady.

Overall, 35 percent of 10th graders said they had used drugs during
the past year, down from 38.5 percent in 1997. Use among 8th graders
in the past year dropped to 21 percent from 23.6 percent.

Use of marijuana, by far the most popular drug, dropped among 10th
graders, with just under 40 percent saying they had smoked pot at some
point in their lives. Marijuana use was steady among 8th and 12th graders.

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 among
8th graders. A full 45 percent of them said there was great risk in
occasional pot smoking, also up from 1997.

But the news was not all good among 8th graders. There was an increase
in the number who had tried crack or cocaine, with 3.2 percent having
tried it at some point and 2.1 percent using it in the past year.
Crack use among older teen-agers was steady.

Also, fewer 8th graders said they disapproved of people taking LSD or
saw great risk in LSD use.

The survey, conducted for the government by the University of
Michigan's Institute for Social Research, also found:

- -- Use of heroin, a drug on the rise in recent years, stable across
all the age groups.

- -- Some declines in the use of inhalants and LSD.

- -- A drop in cigarette smoking from last year -- an 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.

- -- Continued stable use of alcohol among 8th and 10th graders. After
increasing among 12th graders last year, it was stable among them,
too, this year.

About seven in 10 sophomores said they have drunk alcohol. There was a
drop in the number of those who reported having been drunk at some
point.

The government gauges teen-age drug use twice each year: once through
this school-based survey, and a second time as part of a survey at
homes that looks at drug use among both teen-agers and adults.

The household survey shows significantly smaller percentages of
teen-agers using drugs, perhaps because teen-agers are being surveyed
at home where their parents' presence might influence answers.

This year's household survey, released in August, showed an increase
in drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds, led by rising marijuana
smoking, though the overall percentages were still lower.

But the administration official noted that, taken together, several
surveys in the last two years have pointed to a slowdown in illicit
drug use

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady