Pubdate: Wed, 21 Aug 2002
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2002 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Greg Toppo, The Associated Press

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."
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