MANY AMERICANS DRIVE DRUGGED, SURVEY SHOWS

Practice Highest Among College Students

WASHINGTON - An estimated 11 million Americans, including nearly one in
five 21-year-olds, have driven while under the influence of illegal drugs,
the government says.

The numbers announced Tuesday were especially high for college students, 18
percent of whom said they drove while on drugs last year, compared with 14
percent of their peers who weren't in college.

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said the statistics show a failure to convince drivers that drugs
impair driving as much as alcohol. His office is kicking off an ad campaign
against driving while smoking marijuana.

The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services used 2002
data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey questioned
68,000 people. A federal statistician said the margin of error was plus or
minus 4.5 percentage points.

For 21-year-olds, the rate of those who reported driving under the
influence of drugs was 18 percent, the highest of any age group. Unemployed
adults age 26 to 49 also had a high frequency of driving while drugged -
9.3 percent, compared with 5.1 percent for drivers employed full time.

Among racial or ethnic groups, American Indians reported the highest rate
of driving while drugged, at 6.3 percent compared with 5 percent of whites,
4.5 percent of blacks, 3.7 percent of Hispanics, 3.1 percent of Pacific
Islanders and 1.3 percent of Asians.