Story

Survey Shows Slight Increase In Teen Drug Use

Sep 3, 2003 12:01 pm US/Central
WASHINGTON (AP) Illegal drug use and cigarette smoking among sixth- through 12-graders increased slightly during the last school year compared with the year before, says a survey released Wednesday. Alcohol use remained at the same level during both academic years.

Nearly one-fourth, or 24 percent, of these teenagers reported using illegal drugs at least once in the 2002-2003 school year, compared with to 22 percent in 2001-2002, according to the Pride Survey, which is an independent assessment of adolescent drug use and other behaviors.

The survey found a 1 percentage point increase in cigarette use, to 27 percent in 2003, up from 26 percent the year before. About half of these students reported drinking alcohol each year.

Must be the funding cuts for the increased smoking. But with drinking remaining the same, and anti-drug commercials running on TV while drug use went up, I wouldn't bet on it. But the anti-tobacco nuts will.

Love this commerical crap and how the anti's either blame everything on them or swear they are the cure-all for everything.

Personally, in our family we tend to run in all directions when a commerical comes on. We did see one of the anti-smoking ones the other night and how "If you just talk to your kids, they won't ever smoke" they went back to the show - in primetime- with the references to how many men someone's unmarried sister had slept with in the past 6 months and still didn't have a boyfriend and she wondered how many more she'd have to weed through to find the right one and this was done as humor. Of course the married sister had to refer to how many she had slept with in school but lost count because of the pot she had smoked.

Which do you think sunk into more teens during that half-hour. The commercial or the show.
Wonder if that might have anything to do with our small town having one of the highest pregnancy rates of girls aged 13-15 than ever before. Oh wait, I don't think any of them smoke. I guess almost all primetime shows, MTV reality shows and so on where everyone jumps in bed with someone else every other night is okay as long as none of them smoke.

Lizzie - your comments are scaring me, and I'm on your side.

Most people don't equate those kinds of things with "small towns" - - most people don't understand reality.

If I had a 15 year old daughter right now, as much as I wouldn't want it or like it - I would much prefer her smoking a cigarette than smoking any of that other crap they are doing now.

My daughter may only be 5 - but she is not going to grow up with that around her. Had we not moved, that's exactly what would have been around her.

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Smoke gnatzies: small minds buzzing in you business - SWAT'EM