Teen Drug Use

According to the 21st annual Monitoring the Future study,
conducted by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center
and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cigarette
smoking among high school seniors rose for the third straight
year in 1995.  Since 1992, the smoking rate has risen by more
than one-fifth among seniors, with one in three (34 percent) now
saying they smoked in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Use of marijuana among seniors has also increased since 1992,
reversing a 14-year trend.  Among 1995 seniors, 21.2 percent
said they had used marijuana in the last 30 days, compared with
the low of 11.9 percent in 1992.  During the same period,
students' perceptions of the risk of marijuana use has declined,
from 78.6 percent who perceived igreat riski in regular use in
1991 to 60.8 percent in 1995.

Students' perceptions about the harmfulness of various other
drugs have also declined, according to the survey findings.  For
example:

36.4 percent of the seniors in 1995 perceived igreat riski in
trying LSD once or twice, down from a high of 46.6 percent in
1991.

54.6 percent of the seniors in 1995 perceived igreat riski in
trying crack cocaine once or twice, down from a high of 62.4
percent in 1992.

24.8 percent perceived igreat riski in having one or two
alcoholic drinks nearly every day, down from a high of 32.7
percent in 1991.

65.6 percent perceived igreat riski in smoking one or more packs
of cigarettes per day, down from high of 69.4 percent in 1990.