REPORT FINDS U.S. GIRLS BEAT BOYS IN EARLY DRUG USE

In an alarming new trend, girls are now more likely than boys to start
boozing, experiment with pot and smoke cigarettes according to a new
federal report. "It doesn't surprise me, especially not with
drugs that are going around now," said Stephany Villaneueva, an
18-year-old senior at Framingham High School. "Girls are so
susceptible to being peer-pressured, especially if guys are around
them that they want to impress." In 2004, 675,000 girls ages 12 to
17 began smoking pot, compared with 577,000 boys, according to a
report by the Office of National Drug Control Policy released this
month.

In the same year, 1.5 million girls started drinking alcohol,
compared with 1.29 million boys. New cigarette smokers numbered
730,000 among girls and 565,000 among boys.

"It used to be the significant male peers, the jocks who set the
social agenda. Now, oftentimes, it's the young women who do it and
the guys are along for the ride," said Patrick Rice, a substance
abuse specialist at MetroWest Medical Center.

Prior to 2002, boys were more likely to initiate use of marijuana,
alcohol and cigarettes than girls, federal officials said. Girls
surpassed boys in first-time use of marijuana in 2002, and surpassed
boys in first-time use of alcohol and cigarettes in 2004.

"You see that the girls are actually drinking more than the boys
are sometimes. You'll often have girls brought into the emergency
room, or girls passing out," said Dr. Nupur Gupta, medical director
of the Center for Adolescent Health at Milford Regional Medical Center.

The trends disturb health officials because research shows girls may
become addicted to nicotine faster than boys, and that drinking
alcohol can disrupt growth and the onset of puberty in adolescent
girls. Girls, in contrast with boys, often use drugs and alcohol to
self-medicate mental health problems such as depression and anxiety,
Gupta said. "Girls do it more because they're trying to solve
problems in their own life, either at school or at home," Gupta
said.