ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210066
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
NOTE: Below
Drug use by teens rose sharply in 1994 and 1995, the government reported Tuesday.
The announcement drew a quick reaction from Bob Dole, who promised to make fighting drugs his first priority if elected president.
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, released by the Department of Health and Human Services, also found that:
* Drug use by youths rose 24 percent during 1994 and 1995, and an estimated 10.4 percent of youths age 12-17 used illicit drugs on a monthly basis in 1995.
* Monthly marijuana use among youths is up 105 percent since 1992, and 37 percent during 1994 and 1995.
* Monthly use of LSD and other hallucinogens is up 183 percent since 1992, and rose 54 percent during 1994 and 1995.
* Monthly cocaine use rose 166 percent during 1994 and 1995.
Experts blamed everyone from parents to the media for decreased vigilance in the drug war since the late 1980s, when aggressive drug-fighting efforts appeared to be pushing usage lower in every segment of American society.
``This is nothing short of a national tragedy,'' Dole, the GOP presidential candidate, told the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Louisville, Ky. ``Starting next January, I'm going to make the drug war priority No.1 once again.''
Dole promised to conduct a White House Summit on Drug Abuse in January if he's elected.
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, joined by Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, rejected the Republican criticism, calling teen drug abuse an urgent, bipartisan issue that every adult must help solve.
``Kids don't know yet whether they're Republican or Democrat,'' she said. ``We must let them know that using drugs is like skydiving without a parachute - that there is no soft landing at the end.''
Today, more teens are smoking marijuana, and sampling cocaine and heroin at ``astounding'' rates, McCaffrey said. What's worse, too many believe these drugs are not addictive, and fewer have a negative view of drug use than youths did in the '70s and '80s.
Shalala and McCaffrey also released data Tuesday from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), an HHS division, that underscored the sharp rise in drug use by teens in 21 metropolitan areas. The most current DAWN figures for 1995 found that for youths age 12-17:
* Marijuana-related emergency room problems rose 96 percent since 1992.
* Emergency room admissions for heroin use rose 58 percent from 1992 to 1995.
* Cocaine-related admissions rose 19 percent from 1992.
Although overall rates of drug use are stable, McCaffrey said youths who start with ``gateway'' drugs like marijuana and alcohol are particularly vulnerable.
``Drug exposure in America starts in the 6th grade,'' McCaffrey said. ``It's not enough to have [an anti-drug] program, or a yearly anti-drug lecture. We need a consistent effort, from kindergarten through the 12th grade.''
In recent months, the Republican National Committee has issued a flurry of news releases about President Clinton's drug policy, charging that he has been ``absent without leadership'' in the fight against drugs.
Tuesday, Shalala cited Clinton's efforts to save the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, and mentioned Republican efforts to cut $184 million from the Clinton's 1997 budget proposal for drug fighting.
One expert thinks partisan sniping only delays solutions.
``We don't get very far as a nation when we lay blame instead of focusing our energies on youths,'' said Lloyd Johnston, who has conducted a University of Michigan study of teen drug use. He thinks that in the '90s, parents, communities and legislators ``dropped the ball'' in teaching young people about the dangers of drug abuse.
``The drug issue fell off the national screen at the time of the Gulf War, and it never really got back on,'' Johnston said. Now, there are fewer public service announcements, campaigns, and school-based programs than during the '70s and '80s, he said.
Also, some baby boom parents are ambivalent about warning their kids about drugs when they sampled them themselves. Johnston said that shouldn't stop them.
``Parents should be able to show their kids that it's not inconsistent for them to denounce drugs,'' he said. ``They shouldn't have a problem in telling kids that they made the wrong choice back then.''
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by KRT. color.by CNB