Posted on: Tuesday, December 17, 2002

National survey shows drop in teen drug use

By David Ho
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Smoking, drinking and drug use among eighth-graders has fallen sharply in recent years, with marijuana use at its lowest level since 1994 and half as many youngsters reporting they use cigarettes, according to a survey of students released yesterday.

Monitoring the Future, an annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Department of Health and Human Services, found declines in drug, alcohol and tobacco use for all age groups.

"Teen drug use is once again headed in the right direction — down," said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "This survey confirms that our drug-prevention efforts are working and that when we work together and push back, the drug problem gets smaller."

The report surveyed 44,000 students.

Lloyd Johnston, who directed the study by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said the findings among eighth-graders are particularly heartening because children who say no to drugs, smoking or alcohol early on carry that attitude into adulthood.

Government health officials credited campaigns to educate children about the dangers of drugs with helping to foster the decline.

Despite the broad decline, teen use of heroin, cocaine and steroids remained fairly steady this year. Among high school seniors, there were slight increases in the use of sedatives and tranquilizers.

The most dramatic declines were in smoking. The rate for eighth-graders has been cut in half since 1996. Those teens who said they smoked in the last month fell from 21 percent to 10.7 percent. Among 10th-graders, the decline was almost as large.