THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260334
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 71 lines
About one in four high school seniors smoked marijuana once a month or more during the past school year, a national survey reported Wednesday, and teen use of other illicit drugs also was on the rise.
The survey, which amplifies other recent reports of increasing teen-age drug use, is sure to fuel the political rhetoric between President Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who says Clinton has ``surrendered'' in the war on drugs.
Conducted by the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education, the study is the nation's largest student survey and the first to report drug use for the 1995-96 school year. It is based on the responses of 129,560 students in grades six to 12 in 26 states, including Virginia. North Carolina was not included in the survey.
This marks the fifth straight year that the PRIDE survey shows a rise in teen drug use. The organization includes cigarettes and alcohol as drugs. In fact, the survey shows overall teen drug use at its highest level since the survey began in 1987-88.
The study found that one in five high school seniors used an illicit drug weekly or more often, and that one in 10 used it daily. More than a quarter said they used alcohol weekly. And 7.1 percent used cocaine in the past year; 11.6 percent used uppers; 12.1 percent used hallucinogens and 3.5 percent used heroin.
``We would admonish the candidates to resist the temptation to make the drug issue a partisan political football,'' said Doug Hall, PRIDE's executive director. ``We especially encourage them to do everything possible to make American parents aware that they, not Washington, hold the key to preventing drug use by teens.''
The survey shows that parents aren't talking to their children about drugs. Only one-third of students said their parents talked to them often about alcohol and drugs, the lowest level in the six years the question has been asked.
By contrast, nearly nine out of 10 students said their teachers have taught them about drug dangers.
When parents warn their kids about drugs, usage is lower, the survey says. Among students who said they never hear from their parents about drugs, 36 percent reported using an illicit drug in the past year. The number fell to 27 percent for those whose parents spoke ``a lot.''
In addition, the survey shows that most drug usage occurs when and where parents are in charge.
``They are using drugs far more often at home, in cars and at places in the community other than schools,'' said Thomas J. Gleaton, president of PRIDE, which is based in Atlanta. ``School is the most drug-preventive, drug-free place in town.''
Students said a school building was the last place they used drugs. Among sixth- to 12th-graders, the preferred places to smoke marijuana were a friend's home, another place in the community and a car. About 8 percent said they smoked in their home. Students also said they used drugs mostly at night and on weekends, not during school hours.
Katie Reid, a senior at Clark County High School about 60 miles west of Washington, said students at her school were into drugs. She tried to start a drug-free group, she said, and was verbally insulted and had posters ripped off the walls. She was booed when she addressed younger students at a nearby middle school.
``I think there's a myth among students that their parents did drugs in the '60s and so why can't they do it in the '90s,'' she said.
Besides using drugs more frequently, more students in 1995-96 reported getting ``very high, bombed or stoned.'' When they used marijuana, nearly three-fourths of the seniors said they get very high, compared to 62 percent who said that 1987-88.
KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL SURVEY by CNB