TEENAGERS abusing P- drugs

Prescription drug abuse growing among American teens, .

In continuing coverage from yesterday's coverage, ABC World News (12/11, story 7, 2:25, Gibson) reported that President Bush "hailed a new" survey which shows that "overall drug use by American teenagers is on the decline."

The "33rd national survey" of American teenagers, titled Monitoring the Future, revealed that there has been "a decade-long decline in teen drug use." Although the survey "shows no dramatic drops from last year," it does reveal "a significant reduction since 1997 in the number of young people experimenting with illegal drugs." But, the survey's authors also "noted a gradual increase during the past few years in the number of teenagers using the drug known as ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)."

"Trends in teenage drinking and use of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin have remained relatively steady." John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, stated that "teenagers largely understand that so-called street drugs such as marijuana and cocaine are dangerous." Still, "they assume that pharmaceutical drugs can provide a safer high because they come from the medical establishment," he said. This assumption is even more dangerous because of "the drugs' easy accessibility. Waters said that, based on other surveys, 71 percent of young people have reported their sources of supply are their parents' or friends' medicine cabinets."

The investigators, who looked at the "behavior of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders," found that approximately "one in every 20 high school seniors has at least tried OxyContin (oxycodone HCl)," the AP (12/12, Riechmann) adds.

The "study also offered reasons for optimism." Data from the survey showed a decline in marijuana and stimulant drug usage. Wilson Compton, division director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "attributed the drop to increased public awareness."

"Teen use of marijuana declined by 25 percent, steroids by 33 percent...and methamphetamine by 64 percent," since 2001. Furthermore, "teens reported a 15 percent drop over the 2001-2007 in binge drinking, and a 33 percent reduction in cigarette smoking." President Bush attributed the falling percentages to his administration's "anti-drug strategies, including interdiction, prosecution, and treatment."