Annual Teen Drug Study Finds Mixed Results

Nearly two-thirds of teenagers say their schools are drug-free, according to a survey released Tuesday.

But it’s good news, bad news for parents, because the survey group of a thousand 12-to 17-year-olds also says that marijuana is as easy to get as tobacco and even easier to buy than alcohol.

The survey, conducted by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, reported that 63% of teens said their schools were drug-free, slightly more than double the number reported in 1998. In 1999 and 2000, 44% and 45% of teens called their schools drug-free, the report said. The center did not conduct a survey in 2001.

The center’s president, Joseph A. Califano Jr., said the increase might be due to a greater awareness of the dangers of drug use or an increase in drug testing in schools. He said the Sept. 11 attacks may also have played a part, citing greater parental involvement, increased patriotism among teens or a heightened association between drug dealing and terrorism as possible factors in lowering drug use.

The annual survey is designed to analyze all the factors that may come into play as teens decide whether to use alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs, Califano said.

This year, the survey examined the influence of siblings and grandparents.

Teens who think older siblings would be angry if they found out about marijuana use were less likely to use drugs, as were teens who thought their siblings were not using illegal drugs, the report found.

If teens have a good relationship with one or more grandparents, the risk of drug use is also lower.

“CASA surveys have consistently found that the family is fundamental in keeping children away from tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs,” Califano said. Past surveys have stressed the importance of parental involvement and two-parent households in reducing teen drug use.

But the survey shows that the 541 parents interviewed are more pessimistic that their children are using drugs.

Although parents listed drug use as their biggest concern, 35% say they have “little influence” over whether their teen uses drugs, up from 25% in 1999, and only 51% of parents described their children’s schools as drug-free.

“Parent power is the most undervalued tool here,” Califano said.

California state PTA Vice President Carla Nino echoed Califano’s sentiments about the importance of parental involvement. “From the PTA’s perspective, the best that we can do is educate parents ... on how to talk to their kids, because that’s the hardest thing for parents to do,” she said.

Califano also said that controls on the underage purchase of tobacco seemed to be working but that marijuana was becoming easier to obtain. The percentage of teens who listed cigarettes as the easiest illegal drug for minors to purchase fell from 47% in the 1999 survey to 31% in 2002. Marijuana was rated as easiest to obtain by 27% of teens in 1999 and 34% in 2002, but the difference in the ease of obtaining tobacco and pot was within the study’s margin of error. Alcohol was listed as the most easily purchased by 12% in 1999 and 14% this year.

One-quarter of teenagers said that they have seen drugs being sold in school or on school grounds, and almost half said they could buy pot in 24 hours or less--27% in an hour or less.

John P. Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement that the survey’s findings about the ease of obtaining marijuana “should send a wake-up call to parents: They need to talk to their children about this dangerous drug now.”

And parents need to start early. The average age for that first cigarette is just over 12, according to the study.

Drinkers started at 12 1/2, and marijuana users a year later.

The study pointed to several factors associated with decreased drug use, including good grades and church attendance.

Smoking, school detention and truancy were associated with increased drug use.

The center’s survey was conducted between late December and early February in the continental United States.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for teens and 4.2 points for parents.