FEWER TEENS ARE SMOKING, USING DRUGS, BUT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE

A new study shows public education efforts have been successful in reducing
the number of teenagers who smoke cigarettes or use illegal drugs. But
findings that more younger teenagers are using inhalants, like glue and
aerosols, demonstrate that more needs to be done to teach children about
the harmful effects of drug abuse.

The smoking rate among younger teens is half what it was in the mid-1990s,
and drug use is down by one-third, according to an Associated Press story
on the University of Michigan, which was done for the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.

And illicit drug use among teens declined by 7 percent over the past year,
and 17 percent over the last four years. There are now 600,000 fewer teens
using drugs than there were in 2001, the report found.

"These are sustained, broad and deep declines," national drug policy
director John Walters said. "The challenge before us is to follow through."

Walters' point is illustrated by survey results that found more
eighth-graders are using inhalants and the pain-control narcotic OxyContin.
Inhalant abuse, which can cause heart problems, had been down since 1995,
when an anti-inhalant media campaign started.

Such campaigns, as well as higher prices and the withdrawal of the Joe
Camel logo are among the reasons fewer teens are smoking, according to the
AP story. And in what may be the most revealing bit of data, close to
three-quarters of surveyed 12th graders now say they'd rather not date a
smoker, up from close to two-thirds in 1977, the story said.

Health officials must follow the public education model successful in
reducing teen smoking and some illegal drugs to counter other potentially
deadly threats to our children's health.