TEENAGE DRUG USE DECLINES

More Seeking Treatment For Marijuana Dependency Than For All Other Drugs
Combined

WASHINGTON (AP) - American teenagers are cutting back on their use of
illicit drugs and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady,
the government says.

An annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Department
of Health and Human Services found declines in many kinds of drugs for high
school students, especially for Ecstasy and LSD.

Overall, the Bush administration said the annual survey funded by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11 percent drop in illegal drug
use in the past two years, slightly surpassing President Bush's goal of a
10 percent reduction.

The survey, known as Monitoring the Future, tracked drug use and attitudes
among 48,500 students from 392 schools.

There was one troubling sign: slowing declines in the use of certain drugs
by eighth-graders - and a slight increase in their use of inhalants, said
Lloyd D. Johnston, who directed the study by the University of Michigan's
Institute for Social Research.

"We should take this as a little warning because eighth-graders have been
indicative of things to come in the past," he said.

In addition, there was an overall increase in the illicit use of the
synthetic painkillers OxyContin and vicodin, reflective of patterns seen in
the general population.

A private study by Pride Surveys in September showed illegal drug use and
cigarette smoking among sixth-through 12th-graders increased slightly
during the last school year compared with the year before.

But both surveys agreed that marijuana remains by far the most widely used
illegal drug. Monitoring the Future reported that it had been tried at
least once by 46 percent of 12th-graders and used by more than a third in
the past year. Both numbers showed a decrease over last year.

"More kids are seeking treatment for marijuana dependency than all other
drugs combined," John Walters, director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, said at a news conference.

However, he said the results were encouraging.

"This survey shows that when we push back against the drug problem, it gets
smaller," Walters said.

The percentage of teens who smoke cigarettes has fallen dramatically from
the mid-1990s, the result of advertising campaigns and the rise in
cigarette prices.

But the survey showed that, among eighth- and 10th-graders, the decline
slowed significantly.

Johnston, the study's director, said that despite progress in keeping teens
from smoking, "one-quarter of our kids, by the end of high school, are
smoking cigarettes."