From: Jim Rosenfield <[j n r] at [igc.apc.org]>
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Date: 20 Feb 94 09:02 PST
Subject: Drugs UP among teens

		Illicit Drug Use Rises Among U.S. Teenagers; ...

WP   1/31/94 9:00 PM

Illicit Drug Use Rises Among U.S. Teenagers; Survey Shows Reversal
of Trend
 By Pierre Thomas Washington Post Staff Writer

   Illicit drug use among American teenagers has increased in the
last two years, reversing a trend of generally declining use that
began in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, according to a
long-term study by the University of Michigan's Institute for
Social Research.
   More teenagers are using marijuana, LSD, inhalants and
stimulants, the survey of 51,000 students found. The report,
conducted for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also revealed
a rise in cigarette use, but found that cocaine use, both in
powder and crack form, held steady at low levels and alcohol use
generally declined.
   "These are disturbing findings," said Lloyd Johnston, a
researcher on the survey, but he noted that the numbers still
remain below the levels of the 1970s. "It's an early warning to
all sectors of society that the improvements of the last decade
can't be taken for granted. Each generation of American youth is
naive about drugs and has to learn the same hard lessons."
   Some specialists say that surveys about drugs, particularly
those involving young people, may be skewed because of the
reluctance of some participants to tell the truth about illegal
activity and the desire among others to brag. However, the
University of Michigan study is seen as the most reliable of its
kind because of its consistency and longevity. The Michigan
researchers have been polling high school seniors about drug use
for 19 years, and 10th and eighth graders for three years.
Students were questioned in 400 schools across the nation.
   The survey found that the proportion of eighth graders using
marijuana increased 3 percentage points in the last two years to
9.2 percent. Among 10th graders, the share using marijuana went
from 15.2 percent in 1992 to 19.2 percent in 1993, and the
percentage of 12th graders smoking the drug rose from 21.9 to 26
percent between 1992 and 1993, according to the study.
   The share of eighth graders using LSD grew from 1.7 percent to
2.3 percent between 1991 and 1993.  At the same time, the
proportion of 10th graders experimenting with the hallucinogen
rose from 3.7 percent to 4.2 percent and the percentage of 12th
graders increased from 5.2 percent to 6.8 percent.
   A little more than one of every 10 eighth graders in the survey
   inhaled glues, solvents and aerosols to get high, the study
showed. The share of 10th graders who used inhalants grew from 7.1
percent in 1991 to 8.4 percent last year. Seniors using inhalants
climbed from 6.6 percent in 1991 to 7 percent last year.
   Seniors using prescription-controlled amphetamines jumped from
7.1 percent in 1992 to 8.4 percent last year. Similar increases
were recorded for eighth and 10th graders.
   Although the numbers give reason for concern, perhaps more
disturbing is the change in attitude toward drugs, researchers
said. Fewer students disapprove of drug use and fewer see it as
posing a risk.
   "These changes would worry me less if the underlying attitudes
and beliefs were not also continuing to shift in the direction" of
being favorable to drug use, Johnston said.
   "The country as a whole has not been paying attention to this
issue," he said. "This issue fell off the screen around the time
of the (Persian) Gulf War and never really came back."
   The report looked at racial patterns of drug use and found
that, "contrary to conventional wisdom, black students report the
lowest rates of use for virtually all drugs, licit and illicit;
and this is true at all three grade levels included in the
survey."
   Republicans yesterday used the study to criticize President
Clinton's anti-drug efforts, pointing to decreased staffing of the
National Drug Control Policy office and the recent comments by
Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders suggesting that legalization of
drugs could reduce crime.
   "The administration has been retreating on the drug issue,"
   said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah).
    Rep. Alfred A. McCandless (R-Calif.) said, "The Clinton
administration just got back its first report card on the
president's anti-drug program, and its grades were failing."
   Administration officials, sharply disagreeing with the
Republican assessment, responded by chastising the GOP for
attempting to politicize a difficult problem.
   "Engaging in political rhetoric does not stop children from
being killed," said Lee P. Brown, director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy. "This is a not a partisan issue; it
is a human issue."
   Brown said that Clinton had elevated his office to Cabinet
   level and had given him a strong voice in the upcoming budget.
Clinton plans to significantly increase funding for treatment and
prevention programs in his budget, Brown said, and while the staff
for the drug policy office has been reduced, many of the positions
cut were political appointee slots. Those positions were
administrative jobs that could be handled by White House staff,
his top aides said.
   At the time of Elders's comments, administration officials
quickly distanced themselves from what were described as her
personal views. Yesterday they sought to reinforce that stance,
and the administration promised a coordinated effort to fight drug
abuse.
   "The message is that drugs are harmful," said Donna E. Shalala,
secretary of health and human services. "Drugs are illegal . . .
and will stay illegal."
   Copyright 1994 The Washington Post