SURVEY: FEWER TEENS SMOKE, BUT MORE TAKE PILLS

Nearly One in 10 High School Seniors Has Tried Painkillers

WASHINGTON - America's teens are smoking less and popping pain pills
more.

The lure of the family medicine cabinet helped nearly one in 10 high
school seniors try prescription painkillers last year, even as their
generation continued turning away, at least slightly, from smoking and
many other drugs.

The decline in illicit drug use by teens was modest but continued a
trend, according to the government's annual study of drug use by
eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students.

And while teen cigarette smoking fell to its lowest level since the
survey began, eighth-graders showed their first increase since 1996 in
smoking in the month before the survey.

The survey of nearly 50,000 U.S. teens found that 21.4 percent of
eighth-graders had used some illicit drug in their life, down from
21.5 percent a year earlier. For 10th-graders it was 38.2 percent,
down from 39.8 percent and the figure for 12th-graders was 50.4
percent, down from 51.1 percent.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
called that continuing decline "quite remarkable news."

But, she told a briefing where the annual report was made public,
abuse of prescription drugs by teens is a growing problem.

Use of the painkiller OxyContin grew from 4 percent to 5.5 percent of
high school seniors from 2002 to 2005, she said, and their use of
Vicodin has been consistently more than 9 percent, clocking in at 9.5
percent in 2005.

Only marijuana topped prescription drugs in teen use, she said, and
that has been declining over time. For 2005, 44.8 percent of
12th-graders said they had used marijuana at some time in their lives,
down 0.9 percentage points from 2004. The total was 34.1 percent for
10th-graders, down 1 point. The 16.5 percent among eighth-graders was
up 0.2 point, ending a steady decline since 1996.

Study director Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan, noting
that eighth-graders had also ended their declines in tobacco use,
raised a concern about reduced funding for anti-tobacco messages. The
ongoing study is called Monitoring the Future.

"The best news in this year's report is the significant decline in
cigarette smoking, not just because that ultimately is the most deadly
drug but also because it confirms that drug abuse is best reduced
through sensible public health measures rather than criminal
penalties, prosecutions and prisons," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive
director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

William Corr, executive director of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids,
said the report "sounds a clear warning to state and federal elected
officials: Our nation's progress in reducing youth smoking is at risk
unless they take more aggressive action to prevent kids from smoking
and curb tobacco marketing."

Mr. Johnston said steroid use was a problem in the 1990s but has faded
with the increasing attention to the problems caused by these drugs.

On the other hand, he said, an increase in use of inhalants indicates
the lessons learned from an anti-inhalant campaign in the 90s are being lost.

Karen Tandy of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned of the
increased availability of drugs though the Internet.

While federal officials stressed the long-term declines in drug use,
others saw things differently.

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SURVEY FINDINGS

Findings of the survey of 49,347 students in 402
public and private schools across the country found:

. Some 75.1 percent of seniors have tried alcohol at some time. For
10th-graders, 63.2 percent have tried a drink, compared with41 percent
of eighth-graders.

. More than half, 57.5 percent, of seniors said they had been drunk at
some time, compared with 42.1 percent of 10th-graders and 19.5 percent
of eighth graders.

. Among seniors, 2.6 percent have tried steroids compared with 2
percent in 10th grade and 1.7 percent in eighth grade.

SOURCE: National Institute on Drug Abuse