POT IS EASY TO FIND AND BUY, TEENS SAY

It's More Accessible Than Cigarettes, Beer

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've tried it, according to a national survey released
Tuesday.

When the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse polled 1,000 teens
ages 12-17 last winter, 27 percent said they could buy marijuana in an hour
or less; another 8 percent said it would take a few hours. For the first
time since the study began in 1996, marijuana edged out cigarettes and beer
as the easiest drug for teens to buy.

It was also the first time that most teens reported their schools being drug
free: 63 percent said there were no drugs at the schools they attended.

In 2000, 45 percent gave that response. No survey was taken in 2001.

The survey didn't specify whether drugs were easy or difficult to buy at
school.

Student drug use has been dropping for the past four or five years because
communities have begun financing antidrug programs, said Gerald Tirozzi,
executive director of the National Association of Secondary School
Principals.

More than half of students surveyed said they don't drink alcohol in a
typical week, and nearly as many said they have never had a drink.

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

The survey also found that:

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

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 their
age, highest among several problems such as crime, peer pressure, sexuality
and the environment.

The survey had a 3.1-percentage point margin of error.