Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy
Pubdate: 17 June 1998
Contact:  http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/
Author: Barry McCaffrey
Editor's note: This is a written statement, submitted for the record, which
should be published by the GPO in something, I think. What I would really
like to obtain but have been unable to find on the web so far, is a
transcript of the actual hearing. If anyone knows where it is, or how to
obtain it, please drop me a note. (posted in two parts due to item size
limits)

STATEMENT BY BARRY R. MCCAFFREY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL
POLICY BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY JUNE 17, 1998

Introduction

The purpose of this written testimony is to outline drug use trends among
our nation's teens and discuss our efforts to address youth drug use. All
of us in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) thank the
Committee for this opportunity to focus attention on the threat illegal
drugs pose to America's young people.

ONDCP appreciates the support that you Mr. Chairman and Senator Leahy have
provided the office. Your good counsel and tireless efforts to protect our
nation and our young people from drugs have been invaluable. The members of
this Committee as a whole -- Senators Biden, Grassley, Kohl, Specter,
Feinstein, Abraham, to name just a few -- are among the most knowledgeable
people on this issue in America today. From Senator Grassley's help in
building the Drug Free Communities Act, to Senator Kohl's work with us on
the media campaign, to Senator Biden's efforts on ONDCP reauthorization,
your efforts are making a difference.

Chairman Hatch, Senator Leahy, members of the Committee, your interest in
all aspects of drug control policy and your leadership has helped ensure
that U.S. drug-control programs take a balanced approach to both supply and
demand. Because of your leadership, the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997
will help create thousands of additional anti-drug community coalitions.
Your determination to protect our nation's sixty-eight million children
from the drug threat was also instrumental in securing bipartisan support
for ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. As you know, we are
working in close partnership with Jim Burke and the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America to develop the unprecedented paid advertising campaign
which forms the core of this initiative. It will be supported and extended
through a variety of non-advertising communication activities. By
harnessing the potential of an integrated communication campaign -- using
both mass and interpersonal channels -- ONDCP intends to influence the
lives of youth, their parents, and mentors using multiple approaches that
will encourage young people to embrace a drug-free lifestyle. We look
forward to the expansion of our Youth Media Strategy from twelve pilot
cities to the entire nation in July 1998.

Drug Use and Young People

America's most vital resources are our young people. They are literally our
future. We have no higher moral obligation than to safeguard the lives and
dreams of our nation's children. The dangers of illegal drug use pose the
greatest risk facing the generation of youth coming of age in the next
millennium. One-in-four twelfth graders is a current user of illegal drugs
(past month). Among eighth graders the percentage of current users stands
at one-in-eight. The 1996 National Household Survey (NHSDA) found that nine
percent of twelve to seventeen year olds are current drug users. While this
number is well below the 1979 peak of 16.3 percent, it is still alarmingly
higher than the 1992 low of 5.3 percent. A survey conducted by the Columbia
University Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that 41 percent of
teens reported attending a party where marijuana was available, and 30
percent had seen drugs sold at schools.

The Demographics of Drug Use Trends

Moreover, because the number of young people in this nation will
dramatically increase with the next generation (the "Millennium
Generation"), even if we reduce the percentage of young people actively
using drugs, we remain likely to be faced with increasing raw numbers of
young people with initial exposure to drugs. Between 1997 and 2007, public
high school enrollment will increase by roughly 13 percent. Beyond 2007,
long-range projections are that births will increase by 4.2 million in 2010
and 4.6 million in 2020. Unless we can prevent this next generation from
ever turning to drugs, we will face a far larger problem than we see today.

Growing numbers of two-wage-earner households and single parent families
are increasing the ranks of latch-key kids. Studies show that the time
periods when children are out of school and without adult supervision are
the hours when they are most likely to get into trouble with drugs and
other high risk behaviors. Adult -- and in particular parental --
involvement is critical to reducing youth drug use. With more parents
working, the role of the extended family, coaches, law enforcement
officers, clergy, health professionals, and other youth mentors becomes
even more critical.

Marijuana

Among young people, marijuana continues to be the most frequently used
illegal drug. The 1997 Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) found that 49.6
percent of high school seniors reported having tried marijuana at least
once -- up from 41.7 percent in 1995. After six years of steady increases,
the rate of current marijuana use among eighth graders fell from 11.3
percent in 1996 to 10.2 percent in 1997. However, this small shift must be
put into perspective. Modest declines notwithstanding, roughly one-in-ten
eighth graders have tried marijuana. We should not miss the point. Roughly
40 percent of youngsters, ages 15 to 19, who enter drug treatment have
marijuana as the primary drug of abuse. This is a dangerous drug,
particularly for adolescents.

Heroin

Increasing rates of heroin use among youth are truly frightening. While
heroin use among young people remains quite low, use among teens rose
significantly in eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades during the 1990s.
(However, past-year heroin use decreased among 8th graders and remained
stable among 10th and 12th graders between 1996 and 1997.) In every grade
(eighth, tenth and twelfth), 2.1 percent of students have tried heroin. A
frightening statistic for such a horrible drug. The heroin now being sold
on America's streets has increased in purity, which allows for the drug to
be snorted or smoked, as well as injected. The availability of alternative
means of delivery, which young people see as less risky and more appealing
than injecting, has played a major role in the increases in youth heroin
use. The number of young heroin users who snort or smoke the drug continues
to rise across the nation. The NHSDA found that the average age of
initiation for heroin had fallen from 27.3 years old in 1988 to 19.3 in 1995.

Cocaine

Cocaine use, though not prevalent among young people, is far too frequent
an experience for our youth. The 1997 MTF survey found that the proportion
of students reporting use of powder cocaine in the past year to be 2.2
percent, 4.1 percent, and 5 percent in grades eight, ten, and twelve,
respectively. This rate represents a leveling-off in eighth-grade use and
no change in tenth and twelfth grades. Among eighth graders, perceived risk
also stabilized in 1997, and disapproval of use increased -- both after an
earlier erosion in these attitudes. The 1996 NHSDA found current use among
twelve to seventeen-year-olds to be 0.6 percent, twice the rate of 1992 yet
substantially lower than the 1.9 percent reported in 1985. The fact that
young people are still experimenting with cocaine underscores the need for
effective prevention. This requirement is substantiated by NHSDA's finding
of a steady decline in the mean age of first use from 22.6 years in 1990 to
19.1 years in 1995. Crack cocaine use, according to MTF, leveled-off in the
eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades during the first half of the 1990s. 

Other Drugs

The 1997 MTF reports that inhalant use is most common in the eighth grade
where 5.6 percent used it on a past-month basis and 11.8 percent did so on
a past-year basis. Inhalants can be deadly, even with first-time use, and
often represent the initial experience with illicit substances. Current use
of stimulants (a category that includes methamphetamine) declined among
eighth graders (from 4.6 to 3.8 percent) and tenth-graders (from 5.5
percent to 5.1 percent) and increased among twelfth graders (from 4.1 to
4.8 percent). Ethnographers continue to report 'cafeteria use' -- the
proclivity to consume any readily available hallucinogenic, stimulant or
sedative drugs like ketamine, LSD, MDMA, and GHB. Young people take
mood-altering pills in night clubs knowing neither what the drug is nor the
dangers posed by its use alone or in combination with alcohol or other
drugs. Treatment providers have noted increasing poly-drug use among young
people throughout the country. NHSDA reports that the mean age of first use
of hallucinogens was 17.7 years in 1995, the lowest figure since 1976.

These numbers in large part reflect the continuing popularity of drugs,
such as methamphetamines, inhalants, and psychotherapuetics (tranquilizers,
sedatives, analgesics, or stimulants), within the youth "club scene." Raves
- -- late night dances, in which drug use is a prominent feature -- remain
popular among young people. The "rave scene," which is now firmly rooted in
popular culture -- from MTV to music, to movies -- has been a major
contributing factor to youth drug deaths in Orlando, Florida, and
escalating drug use in other regions.

The Dangers Are Growing

The dangers for today's young people are particularly pronounced. The
purity of heroin available on our streets is much higher than ever before.
Higher purity means higher risks. "Speedballing" -- combining heroin with
cocaine -- is increasingly common. Treatment providers report that 75
percent of clients in heroin treatment report cocaine abuse as well. In
California, methamphetamine use is so widespread that the drug is no longer
considered an emerging threat -- it has arrived. Meth use on the East Coast
is a growing problem. Ketamine, GHB and Rohypnol -- all "club drugs" -- are
also emerging threats from coast to coast. Marijuana use among young people
is increasing and indications are that the age of initiation is falling.
For example, treatment providers report that over one-third of all clients
receiving treatment for marijuana abuse are under the age of twenty.

Alcohol and Tobacco

Youth drug use rates for illegal drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, are
also linked to the high percentage of our young people who use tobacco.
Overall, 4.5 million young people under the age of eighteen now smoke;
every day another three thousand adolescents become regular smokers.
One-third of these new smokers will die from tobacco-related disease.
According to the NHSDA, an estimated 18 percent of young people ages twelve
to seventeen are current smokers. Daily cigarette smoking rose 43 percent
among high school seniors between 1992 and 1997. The 1997 MTF similarly
found that daily cigarette smoking among high school seniors reached its
highest level (24.6 percent) since 1979. Among eighth graders, this study
found that nine percent report smoking on a daily basis; 3.5 percent smoke
a half-pack or more per day. Study after study finds a high correlation
between young people who start smoking during their adolescents and then
turn to other more dangerous drugs.

Similar concerns are raised by the rate of underage drinking. In 1997, the
MTF found that 15 percent of eighth, 25 percent of tenth, and 31 percent of
twelfth graders reported binge drinking in the two weeks prior to being
interviewed. The 1996 NHSDA found past-month alcohol use among 18.8 percent
of twelve to seventeen year olds. New research indicates that the younger
the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at
some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder.
Young people who began drinking before age fifteen were four times more
likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who began drinking at age
twenty-one. Among eighteen to twenty-five year olds, the number jumps to
almost six-in-ten. Between 1996 and 1997, the incidence of "binge" drinking
rose by 15 percent among twelve to seventeen year olds. "Heavy" drinking
has increased by almost 7 seven during the same period. Here again,
underage alcohol use is a risk factor that correlates with higher
incidences of drug use among young people.

Attitudes Drive Actions

Youth drug use rates today are the product of attitudinal trends that
experts say began in the late 1980s. (By 1990 at the latest, young people's
perceptions of risk in drug use peaked and began to fall.) Most
disturbingly, even though the average young person is not using drugs,
almost one-in-four twelfth graders say that "most or all" of their friends
use illegal drugs. They tend to believe that abstinence from drug use
places them in the minority -- something all children fear. The danger is
that this false impression becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This
misperception puts tremendous pressure on the average youth to yield to
peer and societal pressures to experiment with drugs -- oftentimes a tragic
decision.

Attachment A to this testimony documents the role of attitudes in
determining the rate at which our young people turn to illegal drugs. It
shows the rate of 12th grade marijuana use in relation to the rate at which
these same young people see the drug as both dangerous and wrong. As the
chart shows, in 1990, the rate at which young people disapprove of
marijuana use starts to drop. In 1991, the rate of risk perception begins
to follow suit. Then, in 1992, the rate of use begins to increase. As
attitudes continued to soften for the next six years (only in 1997 do we
begin to see a modest strengthening of youth attitudes against drugs) the
rate of twelfth grade marijuana use continues to increase until it reaches
today's alarming levels.

One of the principal reasons for the alarming rate of drug use among teens
is the lack of understanding within large segments of our society about the
risks inherent in using illegal drugs. Movies like "Half-Baked" and others
portray marijuana use as comical. Pop culture continues to both normalize
and glamorize drug use. The legalizing and harm reduction crowd argues
vociferously -- and yet without a scintilla of factual basis -- that drugs
like marijuana are benign. All of this gives our young people a false sense
of security about using drugs. However, the facts are that drugs are
neither funny nor safe. They are tragic and deadly.

Science, for example, increasingly shows that marijuana -- the drug most
often misunderstood as benign -- impairs the workings of the human brain.
Attachment B to this testimony is a comparison of PET scans of two brains,
which documents the effects of marijuana on the normal neurochemical
activity of the human brain. The four images at the top of the slide show
normal brain activity. The four images at the bottom show the brain
activity of a marijuana abuser. The color red indicates the highest level
of activity. Yellow, green, and lastly blue, show respectively diminishing
levels of brain activity. Compared to the normal slides, the brain slides
of the marijuana abuser clearly show diminished activity in all cross
sections, particularly in the cerebellum. Lower cerebellar metabolism
explains not only defects in motor coordination, but also seems to account
for some of the reported learning disturbances found in chronic marijuana
users. These are the facts about marijuana; they make a compelling case why
a young person should never want to try this drug.

Yet, the real dangers to our young people inherent in marijuana and other
drug use have not yet broken through the current haze of misinformation.
There is an carefully-camouflaged, exorbitantly-funded, well-heeled,
elitist group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug use in the United
States. However, because the impacts of legalization -- heroin being sold
at the corner store to children with false identifications, the driver of
an eighteen-wheeler high on methamphetamines traveling alongside the family
minivan, skyrocketing numbers of addicts draining society of its
productivity -- are so horrifying to the average American, the legalizers
are compelled to conceal their real objectives behind various subterfuges.
(Currently, 87 percent of Americans reject legalization on its face.)
Through a slick misinformation propaganda campaign these individuals
perpetuate a fraud on the American people -- a fraud so devious that even
some of the nation's most respected newspapers and sophisticated media are
capable of echoing their falsehoods.

As a result, at a time when we need to be sending our young people a clear
message that drugs are wrong, the message they hear is far too often
muddled. We have been down this path before with disastrous results. In the
1970s and late 1980s, when we did not adequately explain to our young
people the dangers of drug use, we failed our children -- we allowed far
too many lives to be wasted by these deadly poisons. It is incumbent upon
all Americans to see these efforts for what they truly are -- political
movements aimed solely at legalizing drugs -- and reject them outright. We
need to be united as a society in making it clear to America's youth that:
"drugs destroy lives, don't let your life be wasted."

(continued in part 2)
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Checked-by: Richard Lake