teen drug use

Teen Drug UseAccording to the 21st annual Monitoring the Future
study,conducted by the University of Michigan Survey Research
Centerand funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
cigarettesmoking among high school seniors rose for the third
straightyear in 1995. Since 1992, the smoking rate has risen by
morethan one-fifth among seniors, with one in three (34 percent)
nowsaying 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 percentsaid they had used
marijuana in the last 30 days, compared withthe 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 in1991 to 60.8 percent in 1995.Students' perceptions about
the harmfulness of various otherdrugs have also declined, according to
the survey findings. Forexample:36.4 percent of the seniors in 1995
perceived igreat riski intrying LSD once or twice, down from a high of 46.6
percent in1991.54.6 percent of the seniors in 1995 perceived igreat riski
intrying crack cocaine once or twice, down from a high of 62.4percent in
1992.24.8 percent perceived igreat riski in having one or twoalcoholic
drinks nearly every day, down from a high of 32.7percent in 1991.65.6
percent perceived igreat riski in smoking one or more packsof cigarettes
per day, down from high of 69.4 percent in 1990.