DRUG USE KEEPS ON CLIMBING IN U.S.

WASHINGTON - Illegal drug use by Americans continued to climb last year,
according to the latest government survey, which also found that millions
of drug users who need treatment don't even recognize they have a problem.

"We have a large and growing denial gap when it comes to drug abuse and
dependency in this country," said John Walters, director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"Out of 5 million people who met the criteria for needing treatment but not
getting it, the survey shows fewer than 400,000 knew they needed it."

The annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which interviewed some
70,000 people age 12 and older around the country about their drug use in
the previous month, reports that 7.1 percent of those polled - up from 6.3
percent in 2000 - admitted drug use in 2001. That represents an estimated
15.9 million Americans.

The report, released Thursday, notes that 10.8 percent of those aged 12 to
17 were drug users last year, up from 9.7 percent the year before.

The survey also found statistically significant increases between 2000 and
2001 in the use of particular drugs, such as marijuana (4.8 percent to 5.4
percent of the population) and cocaine (0.5 percent to 0.7 percent) and in
nonmedical use of pain relievers (up from 1.2 percent to 1.6 percent).

The projected number of people reporting use of the pain reliever Oxycontin
for non-medical purposes at least once in their lives rose from 400,000 in
2000 to 957,000 last year.

Charles Curie, head of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration that runs the survey, said the increased drug abuse
has occurred since the early '90s for many reasons, particularly because
less attention has been given to prevention, and growing tolerance toward
drug use.

"When young people do not perceive the risk, use increases," Curie said.

Marijuana use, which accounts for more than half of all illegal drug use,
rose by 0.8 percent last year. An estimated 2.4 million Americans used it
for the first time in 2000; estimates of first-time use run a year behind
current-use surveys. Most new users were aged 12 to 17.

Youth cigarette use, on the other hand, was down slightly last year to 13
percent, continuing a trend started in 1999, when 14.9 percent reported
smoking.

The survey also noted that the number of 12- to 17-year-olds who consider
smoking marijuana once or twice a week a serious health risk declined by
nearly 3 percent, to 53.5.

"There's a fundamental misunderstanding that this is a soft drug, not
something of concern, especially in the generation of people who are the
parents of many of these teens. It's not the same marijuana, with
hallucinogenic potency of 10 percent, 20 percent, even 30 percent, compared
to the 1 percent level found in pot during the '70s," Walters said.

"We're concerned about initiation of this drug in the low teens and below
teens, and we're seeing more teens seeking treatment for marijuana
dependence than even alcohol," the drug czar added.

But the survey still estimates that more than 10 million 12- to
20-year-olds were current drinkers last year, or about 1 in 3 of the
underage teen population.

And among all Americans, the survey found that 25.1 million drove under the
influence of alcohol at least once in the 12 months before the interview,
or 11 percent, 1 percent more than in 2000.