cannabisnews.com: Study Finds Teenage Drug Use Higher in U.S. 










  Study Finds Teenage Drug Use Higher in U.S. 

Posted by FoM on February 20, 2001 at 23:13:35 PT
By Kate Zernike 
Source: New York Times 

American teenagers are far more likely than their European peers to use marijuana and other illicit drugs, but European teenagers are more likely to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, according to a study of 31 nations.The study, released yesterday at a meeting of the World Health Organization in Stockholm, compared the results of 1999 surveys answered anonymously by 14,000 10th-grade students in the United States and 95,000 10th-grade students in 30 European countries. 
Among the European students, 37 percent had smoked at least one cigarette in the previous 30 days, compared with 26 percent in the United States. Sixty-one percent of the European 10th graders had consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days, compared with 40 percent of the students in the United States.Forty-one percent of 10th graders in the United States had tried marijuana, compared with 17 percent of those in Europe. And 23 percent of the students in the United States had used other illicit drugs, compared with 6 percent of Europeans.Researchers said that the study, the first to make such broad comparisons, would help them and policy makers determine the effects of culture and other factors on drug use."We tend to think within national boundaries," said Thor Bjarnason, a sociologist at the State University of New York at Albany and a co-author of the report, the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs. "If you're having a war on drugs, one measure is within a comparative perspective. If drug use is increasing at a slower rate in your country, that could be a victory."The study was developed by the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental organization focused on social and economic issues, with the help of researchers at the University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" project, which has surveyed students on a variety of issues for 26 years and is considered the most reliable barometer of student drug- use trends. The European survey was designed in such a way so the two could be accurately compared. Dr. Bjarnason called the differences in illicit drug use "very striking.""That's one in four students in this country," he said. "Even in the European countries with the highest rates, it's only one in 10."Yet while a smaller percentage of European students used illicit drugs, that percentage rose from 1995 to 1999, particularly in former Eastern- bloc countries.By contrast, much drug use in the United States has declined or held steady — with the exception of Ecstasy use, which has risen sharply.Researchers offered little analysis to explain the differences. That, they said, would come in the second phase of the study.But, they noted, the widespread use of marijuana and other illicit drugs began in the United States and spread to Europe so it might be that Europeans simply follow the American trend. Others cited the more relaxed rules governing alcohol and cigarette use in many European nations, as well as other cultural differences.Researchers said they were particularly interested in the survey results of marijuana use in the Netherlands, known for its relatively permissive drug laws.While marijuana use was relatively widespread there — 28 percent of 10th graders had tried it, compared with the European average of 17 percent — four other European countries, Ireland, France, the Czech Republic, and Britain, had higher rates, as did the United States.Complete Title: Study Finds Teenage Drug Use Higher in U.S. Than in EuropeSource: New York Times (NY) Author: Kate ZernikePublished: February 21, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Address: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/ CannabisNews - CannabisNews Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabisnews.com.shtml

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Comment #15 posted by Lehder on February 22, 2001 at 06:15:31 PT
Our <I> Insane </I> DrugWar
...what message does it send that in our society caffiene is like water and ritalin is mandatory, while cocaine & methamphetamine are forbidden? How can we cut such a bizzare jagged line separating acceptable stimulants from unacceptable stimulants? -- mungojellyIt is not a healthy activity for the State to be annoying so many of its citizens thusly; it creates a climate of topsy-turvy law and begets disrespect for the law and the society that tolerates execution of such barbarous law, and a climate of fear and hatred for the administrators of the law. Such a law is a threat to the existence of the State itself, for it sickens and debilitates its most adventurous and sensitive citizens. Such a law, in fact, can drive people mad.--Allen Ginsberghttp://www.marijuana-uses.com/examples/ginsberg_mhoax.htm
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Comment #14 posted by Legalizer on February 22, 2001 at 00:24:21 PT
Consider This....
Without drug dealers there would be no D.E.A and and without the D.E.A....take a guess.I thought I was in the land of the free.....
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Comment #13 posted by Lehder on February 21, 2001 at 15:51:07 PT
Pushing Drugs to Children for Money
The law firm of Waters & Kraus, L.L.P. takes this opportunity to announce the filing in Texas of a class action lawsuit entitled Hernandez....While this filing is a departure from Waters & Kraus’ continuing practice of toxic exposure and cancer cases, the pattern and practice of improper conduct on the part of the defendants in this case rivals that of the asbestos corporate defendants and tobacco companies in other cases. The suit states allegations based on fraud and conspiracy. From approximately 1955 through 1995, the exclusive or primary manufacturer and supplier of Ritalin in this country was defendant Ciba-Geigy Corp., U.S.A. ("Ciba"). In 1996 Ciba merged with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp. to become defendant Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. ("Novartis"). Ciba/Novartis has manufactured, marketed and sold Ritalin since approximately 1955. Ciba/Novartis planned, conspired, and colluded to create, develop and promote the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a highly successful effort to increase the market for its product Ritalin. In addition to its actions and involvement with the creation of the ADD and ADHD diagnosis, Ciba/Novartis took steps to promote and dramatically increase the sales of Ritalin by way of the following:1.Actively promoting and supporting the concept that a significant percentage of children suffer from a "disease" which required narcotic treatment/therapy; 2.Actively promoting Ritalin as the "drug of choice" to treat children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD: 3.Actively supporting groups such as Defendant CHADD, both financially and with other means, so that suchorganizations would promote and support (as a supposed neutral party) the ever-increasing implementation ofADD/ADHD diagnoses as well as directly increasing Ritalin sales; 4.Distributing misleading sales and promotional literature to parents, schools and other interested persons in asuccessful effort to further increase the number of diagnoses and the number of persons prescribed Ritalin. Defendant CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has been a recipient of financial donations and contributions from Defendants Ciba/Novartis for many years. CHADD received $748,000 from Ciba/Novartis in the period 1991 to 1994 alone. During the periods when CHADD received funding from Ciba/Novartis, CHADD deliberately made efforts to increase the sales of Ritalin, and to increase the supply of methylphenidate (the generic name for Ritalin) available in the United States, and to reduce or eliminate laws and restrictions concerning the use of Ritalin and methylphenidate in the United States, all to the financial benefit of Ciba/Novartis. Ciba/Novartis made such financial contributions with the purpose of advertising and promoting sales of Ritalin – an internationally controlled substance.Ciba/Novartis has thus repeatedly violated Article 10 of the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1019 U.N.T.S. 175 (1971). CHADD’s activities nationwide have led to significant increase in the amount of Ritalin taken by school children and have directly resulted in enormous profits to Ciba/Novartis. http://www.ritalinfraud.com/
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Comment #12 posted by mungojelly on February 21, 2001 at 14:20:29 PT:
ritalin gateway
It's absurd to suggest that marijuana is a gateway to opiates or stimulants or depressants; how is using one sort of drug with one type of action supposed to "lead" you to take another drug with an entirely different action? There's no connection. On the other hand it is much less absurd (if not necessarily true) to suggest that use of ritalin could lead to use of other stimulants. The same well known progression of increasing dosages could also easily apply to moving from a weak drug to a stronger drug with the same mode of action. If this is the case, then what message does it send that in our society caffiene is like water and ritalin is mandatory, while cocaine & methamphetamine are forbidden? How can we cut such a bizzare jagged line separating acceptable stimulants from unacceptable stimulants? The answer is that most people have no idea that that is what we are doing. Ritalin is sold under the banner of "calming" children, so no one understands that it is a stimulant. Cocaine is labelled a "narcotic" (a misnomer if ever there was one) and regularly spoken of in the same breath as heroin. Somehow it has become a terrible heresy to speak the simple truth that the evil cocaine and the benign caffiene do pretty much the same damn thing. No one takes statistics on life-time use of caffiene. Why bother? We know the answer: 100%. Caffiene -- by all reasonable accounts an addictive stimulant, putting it in exactly the same category as cocaine (if slightly milder in its action) -- is available in every school, every convenience store; it's right there in the supermarket next to the Pokemon cards. Maybe that's why the drug warriors seem to think that legalizing cocaine or heroin would mean selling them to children: that's what they do, explicitly, shamelessly, with the dangerous and addictive drugs that are now legal. 
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Comment #11 posted by observer on February 21, 2001 at 13:44:17 PT
drivel they're required to study
 the problem is with the drivel they're required to study, which is absolute crapYes, I always got the impression that the idea was to make otherwise interesting and fun topics just as boring as possible, with heavy reliance on memorization and obedience of arbitrary, detached rules. The idea is to push down and label independently thinking children as troublemakers, while leaving those deft at authority-pleasing obedience and rule-following left at the top of the remaining heap. For more on this, see:Dumbing Us Down : The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (John Taylor Gatto, 1991)http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/086571231X/ also see:Dumbing Us Down, Essays Written By John Taylor Gattohttp://www.oz.net/~baraka/dumbing.html
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Comment #10 posted by Lehder on February 21, 2001 at 12:24:14 PT
What the government learned from Joe Camel
The Ritalin statistics in Dan Hillman's link are shocking, really. Towns with 20% of the kids on Ritalin - speed, a drug that gets people high and alters the mind, very much like its illegal siblings amphetamine and methamphetamine.Teachers like it because it makes kids easier to control and discipline. If 20% of children have "attention deficit disorder" then it's not a disorder: the problem is with the drivel they're required to study, which is absolute crap. Only the stupid kids could find any interest in this watered-down swill that public schools call education. Kids trade and sell these pills among each other just like their older brothers and sisters do with illegal drugs. The whole Ritalin experience trains children to grow up as little drug people, treatment and jail fodder for the drug wars.I've met one person and read articles about others who as adults have hard time with a dependence on amphetamines and narcotics and who say: "It all started with Ritalin."The government that promotes this trade and addiction in Ritalin at the expense of children's education is also the government that harps constantly at kids about the evils of drugs.The article above shows that in country after country, prohibition is correlated with higher rates of drug use by children. The war on drugs causes drug use.I ask you, is there any difference at all between the government's policies and Joe Camel? Joe Camel gets kids hooked on cigarettes so they can grow up to be heavy addicted smokers, providing profits to the tobacco companies.The government's Ritalin programs and its constant reminding children about drugs - dozens of times each day, kids gotta hear about drugs. And prohibition assures kids of a steady easy supply of drugs when they have trouble getting alcohol and cigarettes regulated by adults.Our policies are getting kids hooked on drugs - dangerous drugs - just the same as Joe Camel get them hooked on smoking.I believe these policies are intentional; I believe that people in government, in positions of power, design these programs purposely, subversively, for money. I believe they create a "drug problem" that is far more widespread than in other countries purposely so that theycan also maintain all the abuses and profits of the "drug war" which they cynically offer as a cure to the "drug problem" which they create.Show me evidence to the contrary. Everything I read about the drug wars is consistent with my hypothesis of intentionally contrived "drug problems" and "drug wars." It's not hard to figure out. The government knows this; the antidrug jingles and advertising is just a smoke screen to shift responsibility in the public mind from the perpetrators of drug problems and wars to the drugs themselves and those who have been inflicted with them. As long as the public remains ignorant, the government will be able to continue playing stupid, singing jingles and creating drug problems and drug wars for money and control.
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Comment #9 posted by dddd on February 21, 2001 at 10:53:39 PT

Dr Diller
Diller is a cool guy.A few years back,I read an article he wrote concerning Ritalin.It's rare to find medical professionals who will question pharmaceuticalcompanies,and their criminalesque activities....dddd
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Comment #8 posted by Dan Hillman on February 21, 2001 at 10:41:20 PT

Nude Pork Slime
The Nude Pork Slime passes another runny WHO diarrhea unquestioned over its gums and through its bowels.But see:Community Ritalin Use Rates Reach Twenty Per Cent in U.S. andCanadahttp://www.docdiller.com/html/reviews/review-4.htmfor another side to the story, one that pharmaceutical-industry suck-upsat theTimes will keep carefully separated from their "kids and illicit drugs"stories.
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Comment #7 posted by Lehder on February 21, 2001 at 06:45:04 PT

i know,
i know. it really seems hopeless sometimes. enough of the goods are already out there. but nobody except pastor niemoller(sp?) cares.
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Comment #6 posted by dddd on February 21, 2001 at 06:19:35 PT

Who has the goods?
Gotta agree with your lasty comment Lehder,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but;>"The best chance for ending this war quickly would be for somebody who has the goods, documented, to expose the whole shabby scam."It seems to me that most of the goods are availiable,but there's not much anyone can do anymore.How are ya gonna expose the shams and scams with the "goods",when the people you have the goods on own the media?plus,,I'm not sure I agree that Colombians are running the show.I think the show is run from a much higher place.....dddd
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on February 21, 2001 at 06:09:24 PT:

Boy, did you hit the nail!
4D, what you said brought to mind a very striking example:About ten years ago, there was a commercial on TV plugging a candy called "Toffee-fay" or some such. The jingle went something like this:"Tofee-fay, It's - too good - for kids!" And then the adult holding the candy out of reach of the poor kid, would say, "Listen, Tommy!" and would wax lyrical about how yummy the contents of the candy bar was, while the kid stood there like a dog begging a treat, with his stomach in his eyes, staring fixated at the candy. Then the jingle would be heard again, but this time, the teasing twerp would then say, "But it's not too good for youuuu!" and fork it over.About as subtle as a sledgehammer, no? And then the antis wonder why, despite their multi-billion dollar ad campaigns (paid for with our tax dollars) that drug use among minors suffered such an explosive rise these last 10 years?I'll bet the ad execs were laughing all the way home...where they pronmptly lit up victory joints at having put one over on the forever too dumb rubes running Uncle's DrugWar.
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Comment #4 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on February 21, 2001 at 06:08:35 PT

All the news that's fit to print, indeed
>>Forty-one percent of 10th graders in the United States had tried marijuana, compared with 17 percent of those in Europe.  Quick, let's lock up 41% of the younger generation to save the children!!>>Researchers said they were particularly interested in the survey results of marijuana use in the Netherlands, known for its relatively permissive drug laws.  No, the laws are the same as in the US - they just don't enforce them. And why doesn't the article tell the whole truth - that the Dutch kids (and population in general) has a lower rate of usage than the US of deA?
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Comment #3 posted by Lehder on February 21, 2001 at 05:53:20 PT

i totally agree
with dddd.The drug war, somewhere along the line, became a policy consciously inflicted on the country with malice of forethought and big profits and political careers in mind too. Ignorance and stupidity alone cannot account for it. The CIA, FBI, DEA, they're all dopers and smugglers profiting off the whole mess. And if they're not dopers themselves, then their kids are and their borthers-in-law are smugglers. Colombians are running the show. I see we have another spy this morning, stealing secrets form the FBI for 15 years, $600,000 cash, $800,000 diamonds all from Russia. And they need thermal imagers to protect children from their own dope.The best chance for ending this war quickly would be for somebody who has the goods, documented, to expose the whole shabby scam. 
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on February 21, 2001 at 05:18:00 PT

I wonder why?
 My theory is this;The anti-drug ads,DARE,and all have actually made drugs MORE prevelant amongteens,because the knowledge of "drugs",just spreads the word.The "awareness",just popularizes the world of the "forbidden and evil drugs".These things are created by false hysteria in the media.I'll bet you Exstasy,wouldbe much less popular if the media hadnt vilified it. I think the gov. manipulates the news to purposely further the drug war.Americankids hear a bunch of government antidrug ads on saturday morning cartoons,and itgoes on from there.Thousands,,Millions of kids would have been much better offif they hadnt ever been forced to go through our government sponsored drug campaign.dddd
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Comment #1 posted by CannabisMythsExposed on February 21, 2001 at 03:59:00 PT:

The article misses the point
What this shows is that alcohol is still by far the main drug of problematic use among young people.See at this story panned out in the UK:
Cannabis Myths Exposed
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