Teenage Use of Tobacco and Marijuana Still Rising, According to the Monitoring the Future Survey |
DRUG USE TRENDSJanuary 1997 |
According to the 22nd annual Monitoring the Future Survey released on December 19, 1996, teenage use of tobacco and illegal drug use, particularly marijuana, increased again in 1996. The increase continues a trend of rising drug use by teenagers that began in 1991. The survey, federally funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is led by Lloyd D. Johnston of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. Monitoring the Future surveys the drug use and attitudes of about 50,000 eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade students at 424 schools nationwide.
| 1986 | 1991 | 1995 | 1996 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th |
| Alcohol* | 84.5% |
54.0% |
72.3% |
77.7% |
45.3% |
63.5% |
73.7% |
46.5% |
65.0% |
72.5% |
| Marijuana | 38.8% |
6.2% |
16.5% |
23.9% |
15.8% |
28.7% |
34.7% |
18.3% |
33.6% |
35.8% |
| Any Illicit Drug | 44.3% |
11.3% |
21.4% |
29.4% |
21.4% |
33.3% |
39.0% |
23.6% |
37.5% |
40.2% |
| 1986 | 1991 | 1995 | 1996 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th | 8th | 10th | 12th |
| Tobacco | 29.6% |
14.3% |
20.8% |
28.3% |
19.1% |
27.9% |
33.5% |
21.0% |
30.4% |
34.0% |
| Alcohol* | 65.3% |
25.1% |
42.8% |
54.0% |
24.6% |
38.8% |
51.3% |
26.2% |
40.4% |
50.8% |
| Marijuana | 23.4% |
3.2% |
8.7% |
13.8% |
9.1% |
17.2% |
21.2% |
11.3% |
20.4% |
21.9% |
| Any Illicit Drug | 27.1% |
5.7% |
11.6% |
16.4% |
12.4% |
20.2% |
23.8% |
14.6% |
23.2% |
24.6% |
The rise in adolescent drug use was led by a continued increase in marijuana use. Marijuana use accounts for 90% of all illicit drug use. Johnston expressed particular concern that the prevalence of daily use of marijuana by high school seniors is 5%, compared with only 2% four years ago. Since the early 1990s, there has been a decline in the number of students who believe there is "great risk" from using marijuana or who "disapprove" of using the drug, according to the report.
Alcohol is still much more widely used by teenagers than illegal drugs. Alcohol use remained "at high rates," according to the study. Among seniors in high school, 51.9% reported "being drunk" within the last year. Twenty percent of 8th graders and 40% of 10th graders also reported getting drunk in the last year.
Cigarette smoking also increaed for the fifth consecutive year. In 1996, reported cigarette smoking in the past month by 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students was 21%, 30% and 34% respectively. In contrast, 25% of U.S. adults now smoke. Johnston said, "Marijuana use is almost always preceded by smoking cigarettes." Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said tobacco "is a gateway drug that's associated with increased drug use across the board." Myers contends that this underscores the importance of the Clinton administration's efforts to have the FDA regulate tobacco marketing allegedly aimed at minors.
Some drug use has leveled off or even declined. Alcohol use rose slightly among 8th graders, but leveled off for 10th and 12th graders. "It's more of a mixed story than it was last year," said Johnston, adding the survey "contains a few rays of hope," like a decrease in the use of inhalants and hallucinogens. Even with the steady increase since 1991, the numbers remain far lower than peaks in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Johnston says the increases may be due to a "generational forgetting" of the risks posed by drug use following the 1980's, a decade of steadily declining drug use among all Americans. "I think it has a lot to do with a generation of youngsters that has grown up at a different time and has not learned as many lessons about drugs as their predecessors 5 or 10 years ago," said Johnston.
Other reported establishment explanations for the continued increase include a decrease in anti-drug messages from parents, schools and the mass media, and the assertion that there is an overall pro-drug message in popular culture, including fashion, film, music and television. Arnold S. Trebach, PhD, president of the Drug Policy Foundation, blames marijuana prohibition. "It is no surprise that marijuana is easy for young people to buy when that drug's market is completely unregulated," said Trebach.
Joel Brown, PhD, an educational evaluation consultant in Berkeley, California, said that current drug education programs are not working, and that "many times, the kids are more sophisticated than the teachers." General Barry McCaffrey, the White House's director of National Drug Control Policy, admitted, "We have not adequately taken a new generation and educated them about the dangers of drug abuse." Anti-drug budgets will be more focused on drug prevention and education over the next five years, according to McCaffrey.
Articles referenced in this story include: John Schwartz, "Teenage Use of Tobacco, Drugs Rises Again," Washington Post, December 20, 1996, p. A1; Christopher Wren, "Adolescent Drug Use Continues to Rise," New York Times, December 20, 1996, p. B12; Marlene Cimons, "Marijuana and Tobacco Use on Rise Among U.S. Teens," Los Angeles Times (Washington Edition), December 20, 1996, p. A5; Brad Hahn, "U.S. study: Teens more tolerant of marijuana," Chicago Tribune, December 20, 1996, s. 1, p. 18; David LaGesee, "Teen drug, alcohol use rising," San Francisco Examiner, December 20, 1996, p. A2.