Pubdate: Fri, 17 Dec 1999
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author: Christopher S. Wren

DRUG USE BY TEENS IS UNCHANGED AFTER 2 YEARS OF DECLINE

After receding modestly for two years, the use of marijuana and other
illicit drugs by American adolescents remained largely unchanged in 1999,
according to the latest findings in an annual national study that is the
leading barometer of teen-age substance abuse.

The study's principal researcher, Lloyd D. Johnston, expressed the hope
that the statistics released today reflected only a pause in a longer-term
decline in drug use by teen-agers. A similar pattern occurred in 1985, he
said.

"Of course, I'd rather see it going down than staying level, but it's down
from its peak two years ago, and I think it will continue declining," said
Dr. Johnston, who conducts the annual study at the University of Michigan's
Institute for Social Research.

Taking a similarly optimistic interpretation, the White House's director of
national drug policy, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, called the latest findings
"extremely encouraging" because they confirmed that a resurgence in drug
use since 1992 has been reversed.

"This survey parallels other recent findings that youth drug use is
declining and attitudes against drugs are strengthening," General McCaffrey
said in a statement. The new study, he noted, is the first to be conducted
since the government began a $195 million media campaign to discourage
children from experimenting with illicit drugs.

Today's study, titled Monitoring the Future, drew upon confidential
questionnaires that 45,000 students filled out earlier this year. Dr.
Johnston analyzed the responses with his colleagues, Jerald G. Bachman and
Patrick M. O'Malley.

Among the 14,100 high school seniors polled, 54.7 percent reported having
tried an illicit drug, which was slightly more than the 54.1 percent in 1998.

Among the 17,300 eighth graders asked, 28.3 percent said they experimented
with an illicit drug, a drop from 29 percent last year. The dip in drug use
reported by eighth graders is considered a potential indicator that drugs
may be losing their attraction for children who are becoming teenagers.

Marijuana remained the drug primarily used by teenagers. Among high school
seniors polled, 49.7 said they had tried smoking pot, while 40.9 percent of
sophomores and 22 percent of eighth graders said they had done so.

In a more precise indicator of current use, 25.9 percent of seniors
surveyed said they had smoked pot in the last 30 days, a .3 percent rise
from last year. Monthly marijuana use among eighth graders remained
unchanged at 9.7. percent.

But 6 percent of high school seniors, 3.8 percent of sophomores and 1.4
percent of eighth graders surveyed admitted to smoking pot every day.

Alcohol remained far more popular, with 62.3 percent of seniors, 48.9
percent of sophomores and 24.8 percent of eighth graders reporting that
they had been drunk at least once.

Binge drinking, defined in the study as consuming five alcoholic drinks in
a row, was a particular problem. Thirty one percent of the seniors, 26
percent of the sophomores and 15 percent of the 10th graders sampled said
they had gone binge-drinking within the previous two weeks.

While this reflected a slight rise among sophomores and eighth graders, the
prevalence of binge drinking has remained fairly constant since 1996, and
well below the peak year of 1983, when 41 percent of the seniors surveyed
said they became drunk.

Experimentation with cocaine rose slightly, to 9.8 percent of seniors from
9.3 percent last year, and to 7.7 percent of sophomores, from 7.2 percent.
Among eighth graders, 3.8 percent said they had tried cocaine, which was
little different from 3.7 percent in 1998.

Heroin use remained flat for the third year in a row, with 2.3 percent of
sophomores and eighth graders, but only 2 percent of seniors, saying they
tried the opiate.

Use of inhalants also continued declining since 1996, as adolescents
learned about the hazards of sniffing glue and other commercial products.

The biggest jump involved Ecstasy, a synthetic drug with a niche at
nightclubs and dance parties. Eight percent of high school seniors surveyed
said they had tried the drug, also known as MDMA, compared with 5.8 percent
last year.

Dr. Johnston attributed Ecstasy's new popularity in part to discussions on
on Internet "chat rooms," where users praised the drug without mentioning
its deleterious effects.

General McCaffrey expressed alarm at a smaller rise in steroid use by
teen-age boys, which jumped to 2.8 percent of sophomores, from 1.9 percent
last year, and to 2.5 percent of eighth graders, from 1.6 percent.

Dr. Johnston attributed this to "role modeling" as the boys followed the
example of Mark McGwire, the record home-run hitter of the St. Louis
Cardinals, who reportedly used the steroid androstenedione to enhance his
performance. Mr. McGwire has since said that he stopped using it.
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