DRUG USE AMONG YOUTHS FALLING

TALLAHASSEE - Use of most drugs by middle and high school students in
Florida has dropped significantly in the last three years, state Drug
Control Director Jim McDonough said Wednesday at a summit of experts
on drug abuse.

The most dramatic declines that showed up in a survey of students last
year were in reported use of steroids, heroin, and the hallucinogen
LSD, which all dropped by more than 45 percent over the three-year
period.

The survey also showed that use of cigarettes by middle and high
school students has dropped 38 percent since 2000 and use of alcohol
is down 10 percent.

The statistics cited by McDonough come from the Florida Youth
Substance Abuse Survey, a self-reporting study of nearly 8,000 middle
and high school students around the state conducted each year.

Of all the drugs tracked, the biggest percentage drop in the
three-year period was in steroids, the use of which declined 60
percent among young people. But only 0.4 percent of youths report
using the performance-enhancing drug, so a small decrease in numbers
translates to a large percentage drop.

Heroin use was cut in half, and methamphetamine, cocaine, and
marijuana use were all also down over the time period.

However, youths have increased their use of a few drugs, the survey
showed.

"One that alarms me the most is children using depressants," McDonough
said.

The use by children of depressants, such as sleeping pills, or
anti-anxiety drugs like Valium or Xanax, has increased 35 percent
since 2000, McDonough said. The increase could be inflated a bit
because the survey added Xanax to its list of examples last year.

Recent national surveys have also shown declines in drug use by
youngsters. A Department of Health and Human Services survey in 2002
found marijuana use by eighth-graders at its lowest rate since 1994,
for example.