STUDY: TEENS TURN TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Use of Most Others Down Nationwide

Though fewer 8th, 10th and 12th graders across the country report
illicit drug use, those who do are increasingly turning to
prescription drugs, according to a University of Michigan study
released Tuesday at the White House.

The use of OxyContin, first measured by the researchers in 2002, was
slightly higher this year for all three grades. At least one in every
20 high school seniors has tried the narcotic in the past year,
researchers found.

Wilson Compton, division director at the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, said he was troubled by the finding.

"Prescription drugs remain at high and very concerning levels," he
said. "We need to do a better job of communicating the risks of these
prescription drugs and protecting youth from what can be dangerous in
the long run."

The study also offered reasons for optimism.

The proportion of 8th graders reporting use of an illicit drug at
least once in the 12 months before the survey dropped nearly by half,
from 24 percent in 1996 to 13 percent in 2007.

The decline was less dramatic for 10th graders, from 39 percent in
1997 to 28 percent. Use declined among 12th graders from 42 to 36
percent in the same period.

The use of alcohol by teens, like their use of many of the illicit
drugs, has declined since the mid-1990s. Smoking rates continued a
gradual decline in grades 8 and 10 in 2007.

Among those drugs apparently used less by teens are marijuana and
stimulant drugs like amphetamines. Compton attributed the drop to
increased public awareness.

Cocaine was the one stimulant that did not show a decline this year.
Though its use peaked in the late 1990s, then declined for a year or
two, it has held relatively level in recent years. Between 2 and 5
percent of students in each of the three grades surveyed reported
using cocaine in the previous year.

MDMA, or Ecstasy, showed signs of increased use. Though the popularity
of the party drug plummeted in the early 2000s, use has begun to
increase again in the upper grades.

"There is evidence here of this drug beginning to make a comeback,"
wrote Lloyd Johnston, a University of Michigan researcher and
principal investigator of the study.

The study also looked at the use of over-the-counter cough and cold
medications taken to get high. The cough suppressant dextromethorphan
is an active ingredient in most.

Usage rates, which ranged from 4 percent in 8th grade to 7 percent in
12th grade, have remained fairly steady during the last decade, with a
slight decrease this year in grade 12.

"There is little evidence yet of much improvement," Johnston
wrote.

The study, "Monitoring the Future," is funded by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse. The survey sampled 48,025 students from 403
schools.