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DRUG USE DOWN FOR 4th STRAIGHT YEAR

NEW YORK, NY September 9, 2006

The largest and most comprehensive government survey on teen drug abuse shows a decline for the fourth straight year. The survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that overall illicit drug use, including marijuana, heroin and Ecstasy, is down from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005 among 12-17 year olds. This means 367,000 fewer youth (12 to 17) used any illicit drug in the past month in 2005 compared to 2002.

Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, says the message about the very real health and social dangers of drug use is getting through to teens from persuasive sources such as the media, their parents and at the community level. Since 1986, the Partnership has developed researched based and highly creative public-education campaigns that open eyes to the risks of teen drug use. These efforts reach the public via mass media, the Internet, community groups and through news coverage that helps families understand both the general risks and emerging drug threats their children face. Pasierb says research shows these programs have contributed to significant declines in Ecstasy use, inhalants (sniffing household chemical products), marijuana, cocaine and heroin among young people.

According to Pasierb, Research-based, relevant and credible anti-drug advertising, when combined with preventive messages teens get from their parents, in school and elsewhere, can and does play a vital role in helping to drive down drug use.

Despite this significant decline, the SAMHSA survey also found alarming levels of abuse of prescription drugs among young people. According to the survey, there were 6.4 million persons ages 12 or older (2.6 percent) who used prescription drugs nonmedically in the past month. Of these, 4.7 million used narcotic pain relievers; 1.8 million used tranquilizers, 1.1 million used stimulants (including 512,000 who used methamphetamine) and 272,000 used sedatives. Each of these estimates is similar to the estimates for 2004.

The Partnership has launched a comprehensive, multi-media education campaign to help parents respond to these new threats. Pasierb said parents can help prevent such abuse by taking three key steps: educating themselves about the subject of medicine abuse and dispelling any erroneous notions that this is somehow a safer alternative to illegal drug use; communicating with their children the risks of intentionally abusing medicine to get high, and safeguarding prescription medicines in their home. More information and free brochures are available at www.drugfree.org.

Our research shows most kids know these drugs are easy to get, whether swiped from the home or a friends medicine cabinet or purchased via the Internet. It's bad behavior meeting good medicine, Pasierb said. Communication between parents and their kids is the most effective tool when it comes to preventing your teen from intentionally abusing prescription drugs.Research from the Partnership indicates that children who say they learn a lot about the risks of drugs at home are up to half as likely to use illicit drugs. Unfortunately, only about one third of children report learning a lot from their parents or at home. Pasierb added, Parents play a vital role in helping their children avoid the risks and harms of all forms of substance abuse.