50% OF BABY BOOM GENERATION TRIED MARIJUANA

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Baby boomers, people born in the United States
between 1946 to 1964, had much higher rates of illicit drug use in their
teen years than the generation born before World War II, according to a
report in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers say that while 2% of teens born between 1930-1940 tried
marijuana, 50% of those born between 1956 and 1965 tried the illicit drug
in their teen years.

The findings are based on data from government-sponsored National Household
Surveys of Drug Abuse conducted from 1991 through 1993. The data was used
to compare the percentages of people born in the US from 1919 through 1975
who began using drugs before the ages of 15, 21, and 35.

The authors, from the National Opinion Research Council in Washington, DC,
say the study provides important information "on how often and how early in
life Americans start to consume drugs," data that is valuable for tracking
the effects of prevention policies and predicting drug problems.

"Age of initiation of alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use is a
powerful predictor of drug consequences and dependence," the authors write.
They point to studies of patients and the general population suggesting
"that adolescents who begin drug use at early ages use drugs more
frequently, escalate to higher levels more quickly, and are less likely to
stop using."

While the percentage of people who started to use marijuana declined in the
1980s, cocaine and other illicit drug use peaked later and showed less
evidence of decline.

But these percentages, the authors note, belie the dramatic difference in
range and extent of drug use prior to age 35 between people born before
versus after the war.

"Only two drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, were used before age 35 by more
than 6% of individuals born during 1930-1940, while 10 drugs -- alcohol,
cigarettes, and eight illicit drugs (marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens,
inhalants, stimulants, pain killers, tranquilizers, sedatives) exceeded
this threshold" in people born between 1951 and 1955.

The authors propose several possible factors that might explain the
increase in illicit drug use among those born after World War II. Among
these are the steady decline in two-parent families, changes in beliefs and
values, and price shifts in drug markets, depending on supply and demand.

Another study finding appears to go against the long-held "sequential" view
that illicit drug use follows early use of alcohol and tobacco. The 1991
through 1993 surveys showed a drop in previous alcohol and tobacco use
among marijuana users under 21 years old.

Copyright © 1998 Reuters Limited.