cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Use by Teens Declines, Survey Finds Marijuana Use by Teens Declines, Survey Finds Posted by FoM on November 27, 2000 at 07:46:55 PT By Larry McShane, Associated Press Source: Boston Globe Teenage marijuana use has dropped for a third straight year, but a jump in the use of the ''club drug'' ecstasy raised new concerns for parents, according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's annual report.The nonprofit group's 13th survey, being released today, questioned 7,290 students in seventh through 12th grades nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. Use of ecstasy, a favorite at dance clubs and all-night raves, has doubled among teens since 1995, the survey found. One in 10 teens has experimented with the drug, it said.The report found the number of teens who have tried ecstasy at least once had increased from 7 percent to 10 percent over the past year. In contrast, the number of teens who said they have tried marijuana dropped slightly last year, from 41 to 40 percent.It was the third consecutive drop in teen marijuana use since 1997, when 44 percent of teens said they had used the drug at least once.''We appear to be turning a very important corner,'' said Richard D. Bonnette, the partnership's president and chief executive officer. ''But as we turn one corner, troubling developments are coming at us from other directions, specifically with ecstasy.''The survey found that more teens were turned off than on by marijuana. Fifty-four percent felt smoking pot would make them behave foolishly, up from 51 percent in 1997. And just 21 percent said they had used marijuana in the past month, down from 24 percent in 1997.Those statistics are significant because they address attitude changes since the partnership, along with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, started a national antidrug ad campaign in July 1998.''This study confirms the trends we've seen over the last three years - a steady decline in the number of teens using drugs,'' said Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ''This is very good news.''The study found that the number of teens seeing antidrug advertising on a daily basis has jumped significantly, from 32 percent in 1998 to 49 percent this year.Note: 'Club drug' ecstasy gets more popular.Source: Boston Globe (MA)Author: Larry McShane, Associated PressPublished: November 27, 2000 Copyright: 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.Contact: letter globe.comAddress: P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/Feedback: http://extranet.globe.com/LettersEditor/default.aspRelated Article:Report: Club Drugs, Pot on Rise http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7768.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by aocp on November 27, 2000 at 20:54:20 PT: blah blah blah >The report found the number of teens who have tried ecstasy at least once had increased from 7 percent to 10 percent over the past year. In contrast, the number of teens who said they have tried marijuana dropped slightly last year, from 41 to 40 percent.Which means ... exactly nothing! Excuse me for getting to the nitty-gritty here, but who the hell would admit to committing a crime against the gov't for some survey? Are the sheeple of this country really that naive? Not me. If i was on that survey, you'd better believe i'd be marked on the non-using side! Duh!>It was the third consecutive drop in teen marijuana use since 1997, when 44 percent of teens said they had used the drug at least once.Whoa! Lemme guess what happens when these guys need more money to fight the dread weed ... five-yr-olds will have a marked increase in their ounce-consumption, right?!? It is so sad that anyone would believe these idiots. For anybody who knows Mr. Show w/Bob and David, this is almost exactly like the gay-rock-band, party-tape sketch. Obscure, but maybe somebody out there will get the reference.>''We appear to be turning a very important corner,'' said Richard D. Bonnette, the partnership's president and chief executive officer. ''But as we turn one corner, troubling developments are coming at us from other directions, specifically with ecstasy.''What's that? Your laws are increasing the odds that kids at raves aren't getting the purest stuff? You mean they might pop out $25-$35 a pill and maybe get ripped off and OD on something that most likely wouldn't be there in a regulated market? How odd. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by freedom fighter on November 27, 2000 at 19:30:43 PT Aside their dumb stat. who would want to put 40 or so% of kids in prisons?They never mention these things.. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by mungojelly on November 27, 2000 at 14:05:43 PT: they don't care what the stats are They don't care what the statistics are. Whatever statistic they are given, they use it (without checking whether it is factual in any way) to argue that drug enforcement budgets should increase. Teen marijuana use has decreased from 41 percent to 40 percent -- according, incidentally, to surveys with a margin of error of 1.5% (at least they reported the margin of error). This fantastically marginal change in REPORTED use of marijuana is (we are told to believe) a successful outcome for a program which spends billions of dollars attempting to keep children from smoking marijuana. Conclusion: ONDCP's propoganda works, so give them more money. Ecstasy use, meanwhile, has climbed from 7% to 10%, an increase which is actually statistically significant. (Perhaps those few teens who weren't smoking dope were too busy rolling?) What conclusion are we to draw from these numbers? If a slight decrease in marijuana use is an ONDCP success, does that mean that a significant increase in ecstasy use is an ONDCP failure? Or is the ONDCP incapable of doing something wrong? mungojelly [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Ben Cohn on November 27, 2000 at 13:12:36 PT: Misleading Numbers As I learned awhile ago from Dick Cowan, never accept the results of a statistical survey without asking what the margin of error is.The margin of error in this study was 1.5%. The study claims that Teen ecstasy use went up 3% (from 7% to 10%), and that Teen marijuana use went down by 1% (from 41% to 40%).When you subtract the margin of error from the stated numbers, you find that Teen ecstasy use went up by a small margin (1.5%, probably as small an increase as one could reliably detect, especially given the inaccuracy of self-reported teen surveys), and that Teen marijuana use didn't change, and may have even gone up! (1% change minus 1.5% margin)And yet these buffoons trumpet this as though it were proof of something working. Sad thing is, most people will never look at the real numbers, and accept these claims at face value.BC [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by haile_selassie on November 27, 2000 at 12:04:52 PT teen fiends Teens smokin less, Good those Reagen youth dont need to smoke.im 37 and i need my medication!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by dddd on November 27, 2000 at 10:23:30 PT more I just cant resist pointing out the following;"The nonprofit group's 13th survey, being released today, questioned 7,290 students inseventh through 12th grades nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.5percentage points. "It's a "nonprofit group"7,290 students in 7th thru 12th grade nationwide!....That's hilarious.That's probably about .5% of the group.Margin of error,plus or minus 1.5 percent?...What a pile of total CRAP! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on November 27, 2000 at 10:14:32 PT Classic Whatchya got here,is a true classic example of raw propaganda.Ten minutes before I read this article,I saw the exact same report on the network morning TV news. This is almost too obvious.AP might as well be called,AP/ondcp. I love the way that they somehow have secured the correct percentages and statistics.As if they have undercover reporters in the field,doing surveys of all teens,,or as if they had bob weiner go out and take a poll amongst the teens,asking them if they smoke weed or not. This is a true classic....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Juan Costo on November 27, 2000 at 09:48:03 PT yeah right According to PDFA, teenage drug use is down, yet record breaking busts are occuring on the border. I'm not really interested in surveys that include 7th - 12th grade. The Monitoring the Future survey is more useful and less politicized. You can follow trends among high school seniors -- at the age where drug experimentation most often occurs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ripper on November 27, 2000 at 08:50:13 PT Pat me on the back please. See, I told you the drug war would work. 1 or 2 percent. Wow, What a difference the old general has made. Who would have thought he would have such a profound impact on drug use. And just think, It only cost a couple of hundred billion. If we spend a few hundred billion more we might get the percentage down 1 or 2 more points. Club drugs are on the rise? Marijuana is on the decline? I wonder if there is a connection there? Gee, I wonder how come Colorado reports that their teen marijuana use is on the rise? Well personaly I believe the old general, after all, he is the drug czar. If only we had more military lifers fighting to do away with the constitution, we might soon be free. Free to do, say and think exactly what the government tells us to. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: