TEENS SAY POT EASIER TO BUY THAN CIGARETTES

WASHINGTON - Teenagers say marijuana is easier to buy than cigarettes or
beer - one in three say they can find it in a matter of hours - but only 25
percent say they have tried it, a national survey finds.

When the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse polled 1,000
teens last winter, 27 percent said they could buy marijuana in an hour or
less, and 8 percent said it would take a few hours. But for the first time
since the study began in 1996, teenagers said it was easier to buy
marijuana than cigarettes or beer.

The annual survey didn't specify whether drugs are easy or difficult to buy
at school, but 63 percent of students said their schools are "drug-free,"
nearly double the number who said the same in 1998. It's the highest
percentage since 1996.

Although many have criticized nationwide anti-drug programs such as
D.A.R.E., educators said years of using such programs seem to be paying off.

"I think we're starting to see the fruition of some of those programs,"
said Gerald Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of
Secondary School Principals.

He said student drug use has been dropping for the past four or five years
as communities began financing anti-drug programs. More than half of
students said they don't drink alcohol in a typical week, and about as many
said they have never had a drink.

While one in four pupils said at least one parent smokes cigarettes, 69
percent said they have never smoked.

Joel Willen, principal of Pershing Middle School in Houston, said teachers
and administrators are seeing less drug activity at school. "I think the
kids are not bringing whatever it is they're doing, if they're doing it, to
school," he said.

Pershing's drug-prevention programs are paired with a get-tough policy on
drugs that includes twice-yearly, random locker and backpack searches by
drug-sniffing dogs, Willen said. Students caught using or selling drugs can
be sent to an alternative school or even expelled.

"They know we take a real hard line on drugs," he said.

The survey also found that:

* 8 percent of students believe there's a teacher at their school who uses
illegal drugs.

* 25 percent said they have seen drugs being sold at school.

* 55 percent said they'd report someone they saw using drugs at school.

* 56 percent said they'd report someone they saw selling drugs at school,
the highest level since 1996.

* 24 percent said drugs are "the most important problem facing people your
age," highest among several problems such as crime, peer pressure,
sexuality and the environment.

The random telephone survey of students age 12-17 was conducted Dec. 27,
2001, through Feb. 6, 2002, by QEV Analytics. It has a margin of error of
plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

An accompanying survey of parents found them equally divided on their
children's drug habits: 44 percent said it's "not very likely" their child
will ever try illegal drugs, but 43 percent it's "very likely" or "somewhat
likely."