SURVEY: DRUG, ALCOHOL USE BY TEENS LOWEST IN DECADE

WASHINGTON - Drug, alcohol and cigarette use among sixth-through
12th-graders is at the lowest level in years, partly because adults are
doing more to keep their kids away from illicit substances, according to a
survey released Wednesday.

Parents and teachers are warning students about drug use and encouraging
kids to nurture other interests by joining extracurricular school and
religious activities, the 2001-02 Pride Survey said.

The percentage of students using any illicit drug, including marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and others, dropped to 22.3 percent, the
lowest level registered by the study since the 1993-94 school year.

The percentages of high school students who said they drank alcohol, 65
percent, or smoked cigarettes, 36 percent, in the previous 12 months were
the lowest in the 15-year history of the Pride Surveys.

The results, from data collected from August 2001 to last month, are the
"best report on adolescent behaviors in over a decade" and may reflect a
cultural reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said.

"Following 9/11, Americans seemed to refocus on family, community,
spirituality and nation," survey author Thomas J. Gleaton said. "That
renewed awareness shows up in the data."

"The September 11 attacks sent shock waves through our nation's schools
just as kids were beginning their school year," said John P. Walters,
director of National Drug Control Policy. "This year's Pride Survey
suggests that young Americans may be taking their lives and communities
more seriously by saying no to drugs."

The survey was conducted at schools that contracted with Pride Surveys to
question students during the 2001-02 academic year. The questionnaires were
answered, voluntarily and anonymously, by 101,882 students in 21 states.

A 1998 federal law named the Atlanta-based survey as a measure of the
effectiveness of White House drug policy.

In the 2000-01 survey, the percentage of high school seniors who had used
an illicit drug in the previous 12 months remained constant for the fifth
straight year at about 41 percent. This year's survey, however, showed a
decline to 37 percent.

Kids who are warned away from drugs and encouraged to engage in
extracurricular activities are less likely to take drugs, the survey said.

Among students whose teachers warned them away from drugs "a lot," 15
percent used illicit substances. In contrast, 32 percent of students whose
teachers "never" talked to them about the subject used drugs, the survey found.

Among kids who participate in extracurricular school programs, 17 percent
used drugs, compared with 32 percent of kids who don't participate.

The national survey found some signs, however, that certain drugs have
taken firm hold among teens. Among sixth-through eighth-graders, the use of
cocaine, downers and heroin was unchanged for annual and monthly use. Among
high school seniors, the monthly use of cocaine, heroin and steroids
remained the same, according to the survey.