TEEN SMOKING, DRUG USE

More Teens Wisely Abstaining, But Many Still Abuse

Here's the good news, bad news about teens and drugs. Fewer are smoking,
drinking and using illicit drugs than a decade ago. But such vices are
still widespread. Among 12th-graders, 71.5 percent said they drank over the
past year and 41 percent said they'd used some kind of illegal drug. A lot
of work remains to be done to get teens drug- , tobacco- and alcohol-free
and to keep them that way.

Still, this annual study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse
gives reason for hope. There are slight dips in some cases, but declines
nonetheless. The survey showed a drop from 41.4 percent to 41 percent for
12th-graders using illegal drugs; a drop from 37.2 percent to 34.8 percent
for 10th-graders; and a drop from 19.5 percent to 17.7 percent for 8th-graders.

Similarly the percentage of 12th-graders using alcohol fell to 71.5 percent
from 73.3 percent over the past year; among 10th-graders, the figure fell
to 60 percent from 63.5 percent; and among 8th-graders, the percentage
dropped to 38.7 percent from 41.9 percent.

Experts were most encouraged that fewer teens said they were smoking. Those
declines do appear dramatic, with smoking rates for 8th-graders seemingly
cut in half since 1996. The rate dropped from 21 percent to 10.7 percent.

Experts cite factors, which we've outlined before, that lead to decreases
in smoking: increasing prices, less tobacco advertising targeted at young
people and more anti-smoking advertising. State leaders took a welcome step
this week when the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission awarded
nearly $9 million in grants to teen smoking prevention efforts across North
Carolina. Lawmakers should ponder the merits of increasing the tobacco tax
as well.

One noteworthy factor in discouraging smoking is the unattractiveness of
smokers. Teens say smoking cigarettes is a turn-off socially. Few will date
smokers.

Beyond the drop in smoking, the survey provides a mixed view of other teen
vices. Use of Ecstasy is down, but use of sedatives and tranquilizers is up
for 12th-graders. And even scarier, the use of crack cocaine has increased
for 10th-graders. Marijuana is still the drug of choice for teens, with
36.2 percent of 12th-graders and 21.4 percent of 8th-graders admitting use
over the past year.

Teens themselves deserve much of the credit for the declines in overall
drug, alcohol and tobacco use over the past few years. Experts note that
when teens begin to perceive behavior to be risky, they react accordingly,
and drug use and other vices decline. We adults can and must do more to
help them recognize and understand these risks. We're moving in the right
direction, but there's more work to do.