Essay/Term paper: Teen drug use

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Alcohol and Drugs

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.