STUDY SAYS TEENS SMOKING MORE POT, LESS TOBACCO

Cigarette smoking is out but pot use is in among the nation's
teenagers, who also report a higher use of prescription painkillers
and a waning perception about the risk of illicit drugs, a federal
study on students has found.

As more states move to approve medical marijuana, and pot legalization
and decriminalization become more mainstream in the national
discussion, teens seem more accepting of pot use, according to a study
released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The national survey, "Monitoring the Future," was conducted by the
University of Michigan and queried 47,097 students in the eighth, 10th
and 12th grades.

It found that one-fifth of seniors - 20.6 percent - reported using
marijuana in the previous month, up from 18.3 percent in 2006. High
school sophomores' pot smoking rose from 13.8 percent in 2008 to 15.9
percent this year, statistics that researchers said should capture the
nation's attention.

"So far, we have not seen any dramatic rise in marijuana use, but the
upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark
contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade,"
said Lloyd Johnston, who serves as principal investigator on the
Michigan study, which has tracked teen drug use since 1975.

"Not only is use rising, but a key belief about the degree of risk
associated with marijuana use has been in decline among young people
even longer, and the degree to which teens disapprove of use of the
drug has recently begun to decline," Mr. Johnston said. "Changes in
these beliefs and attitudes are often very influential in driving
changes in use."

Judy Kreamer, president of Educating Voices Inc., a nonprofit
drug-education and drug-prevention organization in Naperville, Ill.,
called the survey results "very disturbing" but said they come as no
surprise given the messages that advocates have sent youths in recent
years.

"Today, if you watch television or listen to the radio, you cannot
help but hear people laugh and tell jokes about marijuana," she said.
"There is a lot of information out there that it's just a medicine and
isn't as bad as alcohol. We have to straighten that misinformation out
- - for our children's sake.

"I want people to understand that marijuana is a harmful drug, and we
have to keep our children safe. It's our responsibility, and part of
that requires that we educate ourselves about the harms associated
with marijuana and that we then impart those concerns to our young
people so that they understand."

Among the study's bright spots: Methamphetamine use, binge drinking
and cigarette smoking have declined.

The number of eighth-graders who reported smoking within the past
month dropped from 19.4 percent in 1997 to 6.5 percent this year.
Twelfth-grader smoking also dipped, from 36.5 percent in 1997 to 20.1
percent in 2009, marking the "lowest point in the history of the
survey on all measures," among all grades surveyed, researchers said.

Cocaine use was also on the decline, with use among seniors falling
from 4.4 percent in 2008 to 3.4 percent in 2009.

Seniors also registered an attitude shift on the perceived harmfulness
of hallucinogens such as LSD, along with amphetamines,
sedatives/barbiturates and heroin, and there was a heightened
perception that drug availability was declining.

"These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to
implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and
treating drug use," said Gil Kerlikowske, who heads the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

"Continued erosion in youth attitudes and behavior toward substance
abuse should give pause to all parents and policymakers," Mr.
Kerlikowske said Monday as results from the study were released at the
National Press Club in Washington.

The University of Michigan researchers noted that the percentage of
teens using any illicit drug is up in 2009 over the past two years,
but that the proportion of the students who reported using any drug
other than pot is declining for those in the eighth and 12th grades.

The investigators said they remained concerned, however, that the
perceived risk of using such drugs as Ecstasy, LSD and other inhalants
has fallen, even as their reported use among teens has dropped.

"Given the glamorous name and reputation of [Ecstasy], I could easily
imagine it making a comeback as younger children entering their teens
become increasingly unaware of its risks," Mr. Johnston said.

"While LSD use is at historically low levels at present, the
proportion of students seeing its use as dangerous has been in decline
for a long time (although it did not decline further this year in two
of the three grades), removing a major obstacle to experimentation. We
have seen LSD make a comeback before. Clearly, it could happen again,"
he said.