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Survey Finds Teens Smoking Less Pot, But Popping More Pills

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By THEO MILONOPOULOS, Los Angeles Times

Published: December 12, 2007

WASHINGTON - Although fewer young people are using marijuana and other illegal drugs, the percentage of teenagers abusing prescription painkillers remains alarmingly high, according to a national teen drug use survey released Tuesday at the White House.

The study, conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, found that overall illicit drug use among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders has continued its gradual decline, largely because of modest decreases in use of marijuana and methamphetamines. But trends in teenage drinking and use of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin have remained relatively steady, and young people continue to use such prescription drugs as OxyContin and Vicodin to get high.

"Despite all of the successes of reduction of all of the illicit substances, the use of prescription medications has not budged," said Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which financed the survey. "It's very, very high."

More than 15 percent of 12th-graders reported misusing a prescription drug within the past year, the survey found. One in 10 teens reported using Vicodin for nonmedical purposes within the past year, and past-year use of OxyContin has increased about 30 percent since 2002.

John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said teenagers largely understand that so-called "street drugs" such as marijuana and cocaine are dangerous. But he said they assume that pharmaceutical drugs can provide a "safer" high because they come from a regulated industry.

"These are certainly dangerous, mostly synthetic opiates that are the most widely abused," Walters said. "They can be a source of seizure, even death, when taken in quantities."

The danger is compounded by the easy accessibility teens have to these substances. Waters said 71 percent of young people have reported their sources of supply are their parents' or friends' medicine cabinets.

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