TEENS SAY MARIJUANA EASIER TO BUY THAN BEER

WASHINGTON - Teen-agers 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 admit trying 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;
another 8 percent said it would take a few hours. But for the first time
since the study began in 1996, marijuana edged out cigarettes and beer as
the easiest drug for teenagers to buy.

Joan Lerman, alcohol and other drug program coordinator for the Madison
School District, said the district has surveyed students on useage, but has
not asked them about ease of access. "Alcohol is still our No. 1 drug of
choice in grades seven through 12," Lerman said. "My feeling is that if a
young person wants access to marijuana, whether to purchase or to use it
socially, they'll be able to have access to it."

Dr. Mike Miller, medical director of Meriter Newstart, said society's
perception of tobacco and alcohol as dangerous to youth has increased in the
past decade.

"Society has implemented more sanctions against use of those substances by
children. There are penalties for sale and access is therefore more
difficult," Miller said. "At the same time, society is perceiving marijuana
to be safer. Society is through the political process reducing sanctions
against use. Availability is therefore greater."

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.

"For us in Madison, having our security officers and educational resource
officers on campus is really making a difference in drugs on campus," Lerman
said. "There is a national trend for (having) educational resource officers
in schools and I think that is contributing to the students' response that
schools are improving."

Lt. Brian Ackeret, commander of the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task
Force, said the survey finding that teens can obtain marijuana more easily
than cigarettes or beer is surprising, "given that cigarettes and beer are
offered for sale at virtually every convenience store in town."

Ackeret added, "We know that marijuana is not that readily available in
Madison, because we have people trying to buy it from our undercover
officers."

While many have criticized nationally used 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. "There has been a sense
that the drug problem, while not solved, has been improving," he said.

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 illegal 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 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, based at Columbia
University, polls teenagers on drug use and the presence of drugs in
schools. This year's random telephone survey of students age 12-17 was
conducted Dec. 27, 2001-Feb. 6, 2002, by QEV Analytics. It has a margin of
error of plus or minus 3.1 percent age 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" that their kids will try them.

State Journal reporter Brenda Ingersoll contributed to this article.