cannabisnews.com: Teenage Drug Use Drops to an 8-Year Low





Teenage Drug Use Drops to an 8-Year Low
Posted by CN Staff on July 17, 2002 at 22:30:32 PT
By The New York Times
Source: New York Times 
Drug use among high school and junior high school students has dropped to its lowest level in eight years despite fears that drugs and alcohol use would rise to deal with added stress after the Sept. 11 attacks, drug policy officials said today.The annual survey, released by the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education, found that the percent of students who used alcohol or tobacco at least once from August to June was the lowest it had been in the 15-year history of the study.
Pride, a research company solicited by school districts to collect data on drug use in their communities, surveyed the drug and alcohol use of 100,000 students in grades 6 to 12 in rural and suburban school districts during the previous school year.While the overall percentage of students using illegal drugs like cocaine, marijuana and heroin fell to an eight-year low, the percent using cocaine and heroin monthly remained the same for 6th, 8th and 12th graders, the study found.Tobacco use among teenagers declined the most, the survey found, to 26.4 percent from 30.5.More than half the minors surveyed said they had consumed alcohol within the past year, a slight decrease from previous studies.Students who did well in school or participated in extracurricular activities were the least likely to use drugs or alcohol, the study said. The survey also found that teachers were talking with students about substance abuse nearly as much as parents were, another factor contributing to the decline.The director of the White House drug policy office, John P. Walters, who concurred with the report's findings, said one reason for the decline in drug use among teenagers might be because more parents and teachers were talking with them about the subject since the Sept. 11 attacks."One thing the terrible events of Sept. 11 did was make people think about how fragile the things are that we enjoy and how important it is to pass those along," Mr. Walters said. Mr. Walters also noted that recent antidrug advertising campaigns, like those broadcast by the White House in January, "are having an affect on young people."The study found that 74 percent of students surveyed said that anti-drug commercials linking drug use to terrorism had made them less likely to use drugs.Previous Pride surveys have been consistent with those of other federal studies in recent years. Many federal and government agencies have used data from past Pride surveys as a resource when determining antidrug policies, officials said.While drug use among teenagers nationwide may be declining, 28 percent of New York teenagers reported increased use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana since Sept. 11, according to a separate study published in the May issue of The American Journal of Epidemiology. Source: New York Times (NY) Published: July 18, 2002Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Related Articles:Drug Czar and Latest Strategy are Highly Deludedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13265.shtmlSurvey: Anti-Drug Ads Ineffective http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12850.shtmlMarijuana Use by Teens Declines, Survey Finds http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7781.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by freedom fighter on July 18, 2002 at 17:49:17 PT
Some 6 months later
Title, "Teenage Drug Use Rise to an 8-year High"The director of the White House drug policy office, John P. Walters, who concurred with the report's findings, said one reason for the increase in drug use among teenagers might be because less parents and teachers were talking with them about the subject since the Sept. 11 attacks.ff
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Comment #13 posted by CorvallisEric on July 18, 2002 at 10:59:04 PT
My favorites from pridesurveys
For a long time parents and physicians have described the typical male "pot head" as having narrow shoulders, lack of muscle development (particularly in upper arms, chest, buttocks and upper leg), pale looking face and heavy-lidded eyes. 
http://www.pridesurveys.com/druginfo/13.htm
The marijuana used in the 1960s was quite low in THC content, ranging from .25 percent to one percent. Few health hazards were noted during that period. In the 1970s, the Mexican marijuana coming into the country averaged one percent to two percent THC. The Mexican variety became the standard research material. When research scientists tried to use marijuana that had THC levels over two percent, they found too many side effects to feel safe in using it with human subjects. After 1976, Colombian marijuana became prominent. It ranged from three percent to five percent in THC. Presently, we have marijuana being grown in the United States that exceeds 20 percent THC levels. An example of this is the Sinsemilla variety produced in several states.
http://www.pridesurveys.com/druginfo/06.htm
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Comment #12 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 18, 2002 at 08:19:31 PT
Government schools
  Neil Boortz was speaking at the Libertarian National Convention earlier this month - they aired it on C-SPAN a lot last weekend, if it's still in rotation I suggest you check it out. One of the things he said was that we should never again call them "public schools" - they're "government schools". If you go to a Christian school, you learn that Christ is great. If you go to a Hindu school, you'll learn how great Hindu-ism is. And if you go to a government school...>>Mr. Walters also noted that recent antidrug advertising campaigns, like those broadcast by the White House in January, "are having an affect on young people."  Didn't he recently admit they did NOT work? Yeah, here it is:
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/13/thread13083.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by dddd on July 18, 2002 at 07:53:29 PT
...thanx BGreen..
..that PRIDE website is AWESOME!....you can order up pride surveys for $1.07 per student!..and..they have a great drug info page.   
 
http://www.pridesurveys.com/druginfo/index.htm
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Comment #10 posted by BGreen on July 18, 2002 at 07:34:24 PT
www.pridesurvey.com
Please read my post from another thread.
My findings on www.pridesurvey.com
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Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on July 18, 2002 at 06:44:52 PT
Could it be a reduction in Ritalin prescriptions?
From the 1995 INCB Report:"Among the problems highlighted in the Report are weaknesses in recently enacted anti-money laundering laws in some countries... and drug abuse due to the large scale prescribing of attention deficit disorder remedies in the United States."
http://www.incb.org/e/press/1995/pdf/e_bn_01.pdf
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Comment #8 posted by kanabys on July 18, 2002 at 06:23:37 PT
I agree
Would you admit to using drugz if you were in a school system that will crucify you if you are caught? I darned sure wouldn't!! These are bogus stats.....
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Comment #7 posted by aocp on July 18, 2002 at 05:47:46 PT
you bet
More than half the minors surveyed said they had consumed alcohol within the past year, a slight decrease from previous studies.And we have here the consistent and overwhelming champion of illicit minor usage: booze. I'm cynical, so i don't believe the usage dropped just on your say-so and i would think this "over half...surveyed" stuff would seem pretty alarming to the sort of folks that deal with this kind of stuff, but i'm sure they know what side their bread is buttered on. I just wish they'd say what they're really thinking: "Who cares? They'll be drinking age soon enough, heya?"Sure looks like prohibition remains the true answer. We should ban this stuff! Arrest adults to teach children! It's not like regulation could be more stringent, could it?
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Comment #6 posted by Lehder on July 18, 2002 at 05:07:25 PT
oh yeah...the survey omitted Ritalin
 Ritalin is pushed by the government. Parents who refuse to allow their children this addiction can be jailed. Ritalin use by school children has increased 400,000% over the period of the Pride surveys. Where did I find this number? I pulled it out of my ass.
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Comment #5 posted by Lehder on July 18, 2002 at 04:57:43 PT
- F -
Can you make any sense of this statement? What exactly does it convey to you?While the overall percentage of students using illegal drugs like cocaine, marijuana and
   heroin fell to an eight-year low, the percent using cocaine and heroin monthly remained
   the same for 6th, 8th and 12th graders, the study found.Can you make a bar graph from this or write an inequality? I can't.But I'll admit the data are consistent with my personal experience. I began shooting heroin in the sixth grade but tapered off in the seventh when I discovered sex. In the eight grade I was jilted by a girlfriend who smoked and drank so I returned to heroin and illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana. I tapered off for a couple years because I wanted to stay after school and talk with my teachers about illegal drugs, then began shooting H again in the 12th as I prepared to enter the work and prison systems.Here is about the only unambiguous statement in the article:
Tobacco use among teenagers declined the most, the survey found, to 26.4 percent from
   30.5.Nicotine is the most addictive and deadly substance on the planet. No habit is harder to break, no drug offers the same promise of death. It's only common sense that kids who want drugs should prefer "illegal drugs like cocaine, marijuana and heroin." If only adults were as wise. Since I graduated from high school the population of the town where I lived has tripled. Yet enrollment at the school has decreased. That's how bad the public schools are: nobody really wants their kids in them. Kids get shipped to private schools or are taught at home, and the really lucky ones were born at home, are taught at home and don't even have social security numbers. So if these data were obtained from public schools - and that's how it sounds here based on the term "school districts" - then the results, besides being compiled by people with no language or communications skills, were guaranteed to be worthless from the outset. 
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Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on July 18, 2002 at 00:23:38 PT
propaganda
I wonder if people realize they have a choice about whether or they want to believe this crap.
The title should read: drug policy officials get free ride from the Times.
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Comment #3 posted by dddd on July 17, 2002 at 23:58:27 PT
.....No Author for this article....
...what a huge pile of steaming CRAP!
 
 
"The director of the White House drug policy office, John P. Walters, who concurred with the report's findings, said one
      reason for the decline in drug use among teenagers might be because more parents and teachers were talking with
      them about the subject since the Sept. 11 attacks.      "One thing the terrible events of Sept. 11 did was make people think about how fragile the things are that we enjoy
      and how important it is to pass those along," Mr. Walters said.      Mr. Walters also noted that recent antidrug advertising campaigns, like those broadcast by the White House in
      January, "are having an affect on young people."      The study found that 74 percent of students surveyed said that anti-drug commercials linking drug use to terrorism
      had made them less likely to use drugs.      Previous Pride surveys have been consistent with those of other federal studies in recent years. Many federal and
      government agencies have used data from past Pride surveys as a resource when determining antidrug policies,
      officials said.
 
 
........deleted expletive....deleted expletive...
 
 ,,It's a dead giveaway when there is no one to take credit for writing this "news"..
d..........................................................................................dd..d
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Comment #2 posted by overtoke on July 17, 2002 at 23:22:28 PT:
One Word
Paranoia.Kids can't even wear the underwear they want to anymore.
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Comment #1 posted by Zero_G on July 17, 2002 at 23:12:26 PT
Noelle Bush in Jail
for drug treatment violations!http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/18/national/18JEB.html
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