SUBSTANCE ABUSE SURVEY FINDS CULPRITS

WASHINGTON - A survey of American children and parents released Tuesday
found a mix of three ingredients in abundance for many kids can lead to
substance abuse: boredom, stress and extra money.

The annual study by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse also found students attending smaller schools or religious
schools are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.

Joseph Califano Jr., the center's chairman and president, said 13.8 million
teens - about 55 percent of all kids - are at moderate or high risk of
substance abuse. ``Parental engagement in their child's life is the best
protection Mom and Dad can provide,'' he said.

The study found that children ages 12 to 17 who are frequently bored are 50
percent more likely to smoke, drink, get drunk or use illegal drugs. And
kids with $25 or more a week in spending money are nearly twice as likely
to smoke, drink or use drugs as children with less money.

Anxiety is another risk factor. The study found that youngsters who said
they're highly stressed are twice as likely as low-stress kids to smoke,
drink or use drugs.

High stress was experienced more among girls than boys, with nearly one in
three girls saying they were highly stressed compared with fewer than one
in four boys. One possible factor is social pressure for girls to have sex,
researchers said.

Charles Curie, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, said his agency has found similar risk factors
among American youth.

He said the best thing parents can do to steer their kids away from drugs
and alcohol is to talk to them and stay involved in their lives. It's also
important, he said, to know their children's friends.

But Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said the study offered
nothing new and doesn't address the real problems, such as what he called
the ``failed policy'' of marijuana prohibition.

``CASA is running headlong from the important implications of their survey
and stressing trivia. That stress and boredom might increase drug use is
about as shocking as warm weather in the summer,'' said Mirken. ``Why
aren't they talking about the fact that despite decades of `just say no'
propaganda and millions of marijuana arrests, teens are still saying that
marijuana is easier to buy than beer?''

For the first time in the survey's eight-year history, young people said
they are as concerned about social and academic pressures as they are about
drugs. In the past, Califano said, drugs were by far the No. 1 pressure on
kids.

There was some encouraging news. The study found that 56 percent of those
surveyed have no friends who regularly drink, up from 52 percent in 2002.
Nearly 70 percent have no friends who use marijuana.

Among the study's other findings: The average age of first use of alcohol
is about 12, while cigarettes is 12 1/2 and marijuana is almost 14.