Pubdate:  August 13, 1997

Source:   Boston Globe

Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/latest/daily/13/teen_drugs.htm

 Survey: More preteens have friends using hard drugs

 By Darlene Superville, Associated Press, 08/13/97

 WASHINGTON (AP)  The percentage of preteens who know a friend or
 classmate who has used illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin more
 than doubled between 1996 and 1997, a university study said today.

 The survey, sponsored by the Commission on Substance Abuse Among
 America's Adolescents, found that 23.5 percent of 12yearolds said
 they knew someone who used such hard drugs _ a 122 percent increase
 from last year.

 In 1996, just 10.6 percent of 12yearolds said they knew a drug user.

 The survey also found support for the theory that teenagers who use
 cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana _ socalled gateway drugs _ run a
 greater risk of abusing harder drugs as they get older.

 ``The younger the child using these substances, the more likely his
 future life course will be seriously damaged by them,'' said the Rev.
 Edward Malloy, president of the University of Notre Dame and the
 panel's chairman.

 The commission was created two years ago by the National Center on
 Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

 Joseph Califano, former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare who
 heads the Columbia center, said today on NBC's ``Today'' show that the
 drug problem must be attacked locally.

 ``This is not a problem for Washington. This is a problem for parents,
 for schools, for churches,'' he said. ``Almost threefourths of the
 kids _ 15, 16 and 17yearolds and their parents _ say their schools
 are not drug free. A drugfree school in America is an oxymoron. We
 have to do something about that. We have to do it locally where the
 parents are, in the family, in the community. That's where the battle
 is going to be fought.''

 An abbreviated version of the survey conducted by The Luntz Research
 Cos. was released today. The entire study, based on telephone
 interviews in June and July with a random sample of 1,115 teens between
 ages 12 and 17, will be released early next month.

 The survey has an error margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

 Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's drug policy adviser, called the
 study ``a superb help to understanding the drug problem among
 youngsters.'' But he said the findings show ``we have a great amount of
 work to do. It is another wakeup call that we have not changed youth
 attitudes about drugs which, if unchecked, presage future use.''

 Last week, the government reported a slight decline in alcohol and
 marijuana use among 12 to 15yearolds, after a period of growth.

 The government also found that more teenagers had tried heroin for the
 first time last year than ever before. The Columbia University study
 showed that teen heroin use had doubled between 1991 and 1996. The
 commission's survey also analyzed federal data to determine the
 statistical relationship between the use of gateway drugs alone and
 other controlled substances, such as cocaine, heroin and acid.

 The research found that 12 to 17yearolds who drank alcohol or smoked
 cigarettes at least once in the past month and who had no other
 behavior problems, such as fighting or carrying a weapon, were 30 times
 more likely to smoke marijuana. Girls were more likely to take up
 marijuana than boys.

 It also found that teens in the category were 17 times likelier to use
 another drug, such as cocaine, heroin or acid. Boys were more inclined
 to move on to harder substances than girls, the report said.