Drug and alcohol use among teens is down, which an expert says may be a result of the terrorist attacks last year.
"I think it quite possible that the tragedy of 9/11 had somewhat of a sobering effect on the country's young people," said Lloyd Johnston, a University of Michigan social psychologist. "Maybe it helped some, at least, to clarify what is and is not important to them."
Teen use of illicit drugs, alcohol and cigarettes dropped in 2002, according to Johnston's annual Monitoring the Future survey of 44,000 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades.
The study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Most notable this year is a decline in the use of ecstasy, a psychoactive drug often called "X" or the "hug drug" or "love drug" because it lowers inhibitions. Ecstasy can cause a rise in body temperature and kidney and heart failure, especially when mixed with alcohol or other drugs.
Some 4.3 percent of eighth-graders, 6.6 percent of 10th-graders and 10.5 percent of 12th-graders said they had used ecstasy, down from 5.2 percent, 8.0 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively, a year ago. Fewer students also reported using the drug in the past year and the past month.
The decline in ecstasy use, which followed several years of a steady increase, corresponds with a rise in teens who perceive the drug as dangerous.
Marijuana, LSD and inhalant use also dropped, while use of heroin, cocaine, crack and steroids held steady.
While the terrorist attacks may have made teens think more seriously about drugs, Johnston warned that a national focus on war against Iraq or other nations could be hazardous. Drug use among adolescents surged in the 1990s, after anti-drug messages faded during the Persian Gulf War, he said.
Other study highlights: > Smoking: 10.7 percent of eighth-graders, 17.7 percent of 10th-graders and 26.7 percent of 12th-graders smoked in the past month. Smoking rates in eighth and 10th grades were highest in the South, and Southern seniors were the only group with an increase in smoking, up to 27.2 percent from 25.9 percent last year. > Alcohol: 19.6 percent of eighth-graders, 35.4 percent of 10th-graders and 48.6 percent of 12th-graders used alcohol in the past month. > Marijuana: 8.3 percent of eighth-graders , 17.8 percent of 10th-graders and 21.5 percent of 12th-graders used marijuana in the past month.
Copyright 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution