Another Opinion

SMOKING DOWN, BUT INHALANT USE RISING

More teenagers are turning their backs on cigarettes and illicit drugs,
according to a federal study that looked at 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders,
and the decline in use is certainly encouraging.

But despite these positive trends, there's troubling data in the study that
was done by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug
Abuse. The use of inhalants, such as glues and aerosols, increased in all
three groups after years of decline. The survey showed a slight increase in
underage drinking among older teens, and the drug Oxycontin was one of the
only illegal substances that showed an increase in use.

While the high cost of cigarettes and stricter marketing controls get some
of the credit, anti-smoking ads have had an impact, too. Nearly
three-fourths of the 12th-graders surveyed this year said that they would
prefer not to date a smoker -- up from only a third in 1977.

If young people can be persuaded not to light up because of the risk of
cancer, emphysema and heart disease, it's clear that more needs to be done
to educate them about the considerable risk involved in using inhalants.