
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 13, 1994                   TAG: 9412130048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHILDREN'S DRUG USE INCREASES

For the third consecutive year, the number of American teen-agers using illicit drugs increased, according to a long-term study by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

Use of marijuana, which law enforcement officials say is far more potent today than it was during the 1960s and 1970s, has increased sharply. Among eighth-graders, 13 percent experimented with marijuana last year, about twice the level of marijuana use among eighth-graders three years ago, according to the study.

Experimentation among 10th-graders increased by about two-thirds during the past three years, while daily use among high school seniors is up by half over last year, according to the survey conducted for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The survey of about 50,000 students also found teen-age use of crack cocaine rose after holding steady at low levels in recent years. In addition, the report detailed continued growth in the use of LSD, inhalants, stimulants and barbiturates. A decline in alcohol use ended.

The Michigan study is seen as one of the most reliable of its kind because of its consistency and longevity. The Michigan researchers have been polling high school seniors for 20 years, and 10th- and eighth-graders for four years. This year's survey included students in about 420 public and private schools.

A number of experts attributed at least part of the upsurge to changing attitudes among youths about the dangers of drugs and declining media coverage of drug use. ``During the 1980s, increasing concerns about the dangers of marijuana use seemed to drive a substantial decline in use,'' said Lloyd Johnston, a researcher on the Michigan survey. In the most recent survey, fewer students disapproved of drug use and fewer saw it as a risk.

by CNB