*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994.12.12 : High School Drug Abuse/"DAWN" Surveys Contact: Mona Brown/Sheryl Massaro NIDA Press Office (301) 443-6245 December 12, 1994 HHS RELEASES HIGH SCHOOL DRUG ABUSE AND "DAWN" SURVEYS The use of marijuana among 8th, 10th and 12th graders continued to increase this year, according to the 1994 Monitoring the Future Survey, released today by the Department of Health and Human Services. Some other categories of drug use also rose, and anti-drug attitudes deteriorated, the survey found. The survey, which is funded by HHS' National Institute on Drug Abuse, found that among 1994's high school seniors, 30.7 percent said they had tried marijuana at least once in the past year, compared to 26 percent of 1993's seniors and 21.9 percent of 1992's. However, the figures remain lower than most past years measured by the survey: in 1979, 50.8 percent of seniors had tried marijuana, and the percentage was over 40 percent from 1975 through 1985. In releasing the survey, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Lee P. Brown and Education Secretary Richard Riley said the findings present a challenge to parents and communities, as well as to government, to counter drug-glorification images in much of the popular culture to which teens are exposed. Secretary Shalala announced that a marijuana prevention campaign aimed at younger audiences is being developed by HHS' drug abuse agencies. Illicit drug use often starts with marijuana. HHS also released the DAWN, or Drug Abuse Warning Network, survey, showing an 8 percent increase in drug-related emergency room visits in 1993 for such incidents as drug overdoses, suicide attempts and drug-related diseases. (See accompanying release.) The officials referred to the proliferation of drug-culture images as they released the news from the high school survey, which showed no significant declines in any category of illicit drug use and increases in many categories. "The great majority of teens don't use illegal drugs, and drug abuse among our youth is far lower than in the years when this survey was launched," Secretary Shalala said. "Nonetheless, this study confirms that we are losing some of the precious ground we had gained. Too many teens are buying the deadly message that drug use is okay or trendy. We need to make sure that teens know most of their peers do not use drugs, so they can realize they are far from alone in deciding to be drug free. We also need anti-drug messages that are every bit as strong as the false images that surround our youth. And most of all, we need our parents to deliver that message." Lee P. Brown, ONDCP director, said, "In his 1994 National Drug Control Strategy, the President placed a higher level of emphasis than ever before on reducing illicit drug demand. It is clear that until we provide adequate resources for treatment and prevention programs, we will continue to see numbers such as those presented in these studies. I dedicate myself to continuing to do all I can to reduce the demand for illicit drugs and to provide the leadership to reach the President's vision of a drug free society." Secretary Riley pledged expanded school-based efforts and said, "A new generation of young people is at risk of growing up and losing their way when it comes to drugs unless parents and teachers make some new connections. We must give children a sense of individual responsibility -- a strong moral and spiritual center--and this must start at the earliest ages." The high school survey showed increases in the daily, current, past year, and lifetime use of marijuana by 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. This is the third year in a row in which marijuana use has increased among eighth graders and the second year for 10th and 12th grade students. There was also a small but significant increase in cocaine use among 8th and 10th graders. (Ninth and 11th grade students were not surveyed.) At the same time use is increasing, the survey also found that the erosion of anti-drug attitudes observed in 1993 continued in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. Fewer students in all three grades said trying marijuana once or twice, smoking marijuana occasionally, or even smoking marijuana regularly, is harmful to their health. In addition, there was a continuing decline in the percentage of students who perceived cocaine in the powder or crack form to be harmful. While the 1994 high school survey showed that the sharpest rises in drug use were for marijuana use, other substances showed significant increases as well. Other findings of the survey were: o In 1994, 45.6 percent of high school seniors had used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime. This is up from 42.9 percent in 1993, but less than the 65.6 percent in the peak year of 1981. When the survey was first conducted in 1975, 55.2 percent of high school seniors reported lifetime use of any illicit drug. o After remaining level between 1992 and 1993, lifetime cocaine use increased among 8th and 10th graders. For 8th graders, lifetime use of cocaine increased from 2.9 percent in 1993 to 3.6 percent in 1994; and for 10th graders, from 3.6 percent to 4.3 percent. o There were also increases in the use of crack cocaine by 8th graders between 1993 and *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. Lifetime use increased from 1.7 percent to 2.4 percent, annual use increased from 1.0 percent to 1.3 percent, and current use increased from 0.4 percent to 0.7 percent. Annual use of crack by 10th graders also increased from 1.1 percent to 1.4 percent. o The 1994 Survey showed a continuing decline in the percentage of students who perceived cocaine in the powder or crack form to be harmful. In 1991, 62.8 percent of 8th graders said there is great risk in trying crack once or twice. That estimate has decreased each year, down to 54.4 percent in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. There was also a decrease in the percentage of 8th graders reporting great risk in trying cocaine powder once or twice and in taking crack and cocaine powder occasionally. o Lifetime use of hallucinogens among 10th graders increased from 6.8 percent in 1993 to 8.1 percent in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. Annual use of hallucinogens among 10th graders increased between 1993 and 1994 from 4.7 percent to 5.8 percent. Annual use of LSD use among 10th graders increased significantly from 4.2 percent in 1993 to 5.2 percent in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. There were increases in the use of hallucinogens other than LSD (including mescaline, peyote, and PCP) for all grades and for all prevalence levels. This category, however, is dominated by persons unable to identify the specific hallucinogen used. o Between 1993 and 1994, there was a decrease in perceived harmfulness of taking LSD once or twice by 8th graders and among 10th graders who say there is great risk in taking LSD regularly. The percentage of 12th graders who perceive great risk in taking LSD was at the lowest level since the survey began in 1975. At the same time the percentage of seniors saying it is fairly or very easy to get LSD is at its highest level ever reported during the study. o The 1994 survey showed an increase in lifetime use (from 1.4 percent in 1993 to 2.0 percent in 1994), annual use (from 0.7 percent to 1.2 percent), and current use (from 0.4 percent to 0.6 percent) of heroin among 8th graders. o Following a longer time decline, alcohol use among seniors remained stable in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. Rates of alcohol use among 8th and 10th graders remained level between 1993 and 1994; however, they are still high--25.5 percent of 8th graders and 39.2 percent of 10th graders have tried alcohol in the past month. Almost 9 percent of 8th graders and 20.3 percent of 10th graders have been drunk at least once in the past month. The Monitoring the Future Survey was conducted under a NIDA grant to the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Under the direction of Dr. Lloyd Johnston, a national probability sample of 15,929 high school seniors, 16,080 10th graders, and 17,708 8th graders in public and private schools nationwide were surveyed during the Spring of *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1994. The study has been conducted annually since 1975, with 1994 representing the 20th annual survey of high school seniors. Data on 8th and 10th grade students have been collected since 1991. ### ** NOTE: All changes noted between 1993 and 1994 are statistically significant.