Pubdate: Thu, 19 Aug 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Laura Meckler

TEEN DRUG USE FALLS AFTER RISING THROUGH 1990S

WASHINGTON - Teen drug use is beginning to creep down after
climbing through the 1990s, the government reported Wednesday. An
annual survey found that one in 10 teen-agers uses marijuana or other
illegal drugs -- down from 1997 though still nearly double what it was
in 1992.

President Clinton and others called the results solid evidence that
the nation had reversed course. "We have turned an important corner,"
he said.

Clinton and others credited increased attention to the issue by
government, communities, parents, media and schools. "The message is
finally getting through," said Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala.

Overall, drug use among Americans of all ages remained level last
year, and use among young adults continued its steady rise, according
to the household survey of 25,500 people ages 12 and up.

All told, 78 million Americans have tried illegal drugs at some point
in their lives, the survey said. Marijuana remained far and away the
most popular drug, but 41.3 million Americans also had tried heroin,
cocaine or some other illegal drug, the survey found.

Of them, 13.6 million were current users -- about 6.2 percent of all
Americans -- half what it was at its 1979 peak.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse also measures alcohol
consumption, which was steady last year, and cigarette smoking, which
fell to its lowest level since 1971 when the survey began. Last year,
27.7 percent of Americans smoked, with teen smoking unchanged and
smoking among young adults continuing to rise. Cigar smoking edged
up.

But the survey is most carefully watched as a gauge of teen illicit
drug use.

It found 9.9 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds had used some sort of
drugs within the past month, down from 11.4 percent in 1997. A second
government survey, which uses a different method to measure teen drug
use, has found drug use stable over the past two years after years on
the rise.

Shalala said the combination of these results leads her to conclude
that drug use may actually be falling. In the past, she's called it a
"glimmer of hope."

Others weren't as sure.

"I would want to see at least another year or two of declining figures
before I could feel that we have a real trend going," said Dr. Herbert
Kleber, who worked on drug policy under President Bush and now is
medical director at Columbia University's Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse.

Indeed, overall teen drug use and use of marijuana has fluctuated over
the last few years, though the drop from 1997 was statistically
significant.

The decline was driven by older teens -- those ages 16 and 17 -- with
the percentage having used drugs in the past year falling from 30.7
percent to 26.8 percent.

Overall, teen drug use rose through much of the 1990s and remains much
higher than it was in 1991 and 1992. Researchers attribute the rise to
a relaxing of the intense prevention efforts of the 1980s.

But Shalala and Barry McCaffrey, Clinton's drug policy adviser, say
renewed attention is making a difference.

"Sending a tough message against drugs, particularly to young people,
is a little like sending a message into deep space," Shalala said.
"The message goes out, and then you wait a year or more to find out if
it's been heard."

Kleber agreed that positive messages are making a difference. When
government officials from Clinton on down talk about drugs, the media
report on the issue, parents talk about it and communities mobilize,
he said.

He recalled going to see the new Star Wars movie with his grandson and
seeing two anti-marijuana ads before the previews. "That's an audience
you really want to get," he said.

Suddenly, he said, anti-drug messages are back in vogue. "Every day,
when I walk in downtown Manhattan, I see a billboard that says, `Are
you waiting for your child to talk to you about marijuana?"'

Wednesday's news was not as good for young adults aged 18 to 25. The
survey found 16.1 percent of them were "current users," meaning they
had used drugs in the past month. That rate has fluctuated over the
last few years but is up from 13.3 percent in 1994.

In particular, cocaine use rose last year, from 1.2 percent in 1997 to
2 percent in 1998.

Officials suspect that the rising statistics relate to this particular
group of people -- the same people who were more likely to use drugs
when they were teen-agers, who have now become young adults.

And young adults are particularly hard to reach, said McCaffrey. "It's
easier to influence (them) as adolescents."
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