IOWA TEENS' DRUG, ALCOHOL USE DOWN

DES MOINES - The rate of drug and alcohol use among Iowa teenagers dropped
significantly from 1999 to 2002, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Seventy-eight percent of Iowa students questioned last fall said they had
never smoked cigarettes, up from 72 percent in 1999, according to the
survey by the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Fifty-eight percent said they never drank, up from 54 percent in 1999.

Ninety-seven percent said they had never tried drugs such as
methamphetamine or cocaine, up from 96 percent.

"It basically looks like a modest decline across the board," said Dale
Woolery, a spokesman for the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.

The survey was conducted last fall among 97,000 students in the sixth,
eighth, and 11th grades, as well as in some alternative high-school settings.

Marvin Van Haften, the governor's drug czar, said the survey may point to a
long-term trend because it comes as officials worry about the use of
methamphetamine and other hard drugs among older adults.

"It's good to know that our students are smarter than the rest of us," he
said. "It's good to have some good news."

While the use of tobacco dropped by 6 percentage points overall, it was an
even larger decline among third-year high school students. Woolery noted
that the state is in the midst of a big anti-tobacco campaign looking to
convince youngsters not to take up smoking, but he said a variety of
factors are probably at work.

"It's difficult to pinpoint one thing," he said. "It's probably a
combination of things."

He said a series of surveys around the country have shown similar declines
among youngsters.

"This is pretty consistent with the most recent national reports," said
Woolery. "It's the kind of good news we hope to continue."

The state is using a portion of its settlement with the tobacco industry to
pay for the campaign against youth smoking.