Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/ Pubdate: Sat, 12 Sept 1998 Author: Nancy Ryan RISE SEEN IN LAKE TEENS' USE OF MARIJUANA Although a survey of Lake County teens showed that alcohol and tobacco use has declined in the last six years among high school juniors, the study released Friday found that marijuana use has risen among 6th, 8th and 11th graders. Similar findings on marijuana use among teens appeared in a national government survey last month, prompting Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala to say that the rise was partly due to attitudes among students and parents that it is a low-risk, "soft" drug. "Because they grew up at a time when marijuana was around, this generation of parents has ambiguous feelings about it," said Peter Mulhall, a researcher with the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who conducted the Lake County survey. The center did the study for the Lake County Fighting Back Coalition, a federally funded umbrella organization that advises and trains prevention groups in the county. Using a wide sample of 4,739 private and public students in Grades 6, 8 and 11--compared with 1,739 in 1992--the study is the most comprehensive, countywide survey of substance use among teens in the Chicago area. The study found that among high school juniors, 22.9 percent had smoked marijuana in the last month, up from 15.1 percent in 1992. Among 8th graders, the portion who had used it in the last four weeks increased to 10.9 percent, from 3.1 percent in 1992. In the 6th grade, 1.2 percent said they had, compared with 0.10 percent six years ago. Somewhat encouraging, though, are other study findings showing that marijuana use across the country appears to be leveling off after a steady rise since the early 1990s, Mulhall said. The researcher said he was surprised by the "significant" decline in 11th-grade tobacco use, with 27.1 percent reporting they had smoked in the last month, compared with 30.3 percent in 1992. Similarly, the portion of high school juniors who said they had consumed alcohol in the last four weeks dropped to 38.7 percent, from 45.6 percent six years ago. However, mirroring a nationwide trend, a pattern of increased alcohol and marijuana use among 8th graders was detected in the survey. In 1998, 18.9 percent of teens in that grade reported using alcohol in the last month, up from 15.1 percent in 1992. "What prevention groups can ask is, `What goes on between 6th and 8th grade that escalates this use?' " Mulhall said. Recent social trends, such as the increase in "latchkey kids," may be exacerbating the greater feelings of vulnerability and insecurity experienced at this stage of development, the researchers said. - --- Checked-by: Don Beck