From the Associated Press

SURVEY: DRUG ACCESS RISES AT 13

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just as young teen-agers are becoming more exposed to drugs, their parents are losing influence over their lives, according to a new survey that suggests ages 12 and 13 are critical years in the fight against drug use.

Few 12-year-olds know how to buy marijuana or know someone who has used hard drugs, but about three times as many do by the time they are 13, according to the survey from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
(Ed. note: Three times a "few" still is not many. It is easy to get large percentage increases from a low base, and when the margin of error for teens is plus or minus 3 percentage points, this may not mean anything at all.)

"In no other year does a child’s access to drugs and attitude about drugs shift so precipitously," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., the center’s president and secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter administration.

The survey also found that teens think the drug problem is considerably worse than their teachers and especially their principals do. For instance, 78 percent of teens say their schools are not drug free; just 18 percent of principals agree.

And while only 15 percent of high school principals say the school drug problem is getting worse, half of students and 41 percent of teachers believe it is.

"Principals make monkeys of themselves as they reveal their see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil posture," Califano said.
(Ed. note: If Califano thinks that high school principals are making monkeys of themselves, what would be the appropriate description for the Drug Czar’s -- and Califano’s – lying about the Dutch experience?)
See
Drug Czar Lies Again About the Dutch, Who Respond With The Facts;
Czar’s Aid Says, "forces at work to legalize drugs are trying to bring
these wonderfully allied governments into conflict."
and
NORML Director Explains To The Dutch
Why Their Drugs Policy Threatens DEAland Prohibitionists – Great Article
(Ed. note: This page has a link to "The Case of Califano vs The Netherlands by Craig Reinarman," from the International Journal of Drug Policy, which is online at the University of Amsterdam Center for Drugs Research site at  http://www.frw.uva.nl/cedro/library/craig/califano.html#note01 This demonstrates the solidarity of the party line.)

The annual survey found that for the fourth consecutive year, teens said drugs were the most important problem they face.
See
Legalize Marijuana and Improve High-School Academic Performance? Holland Ranks First –
The US Very Low

And the percentage of high school students who report that drugs are used, sold and kept at their schools continued to inch up, rising to 78 percent this year from 72 percent in 1996.
(Ed. note: The difference is within the margin of error, but the very high numbers would seem to suggest that arresting adults and flying helicopters over cornfields may not be the best use of police resources. We can't keep drugs out of prisons or schools, but we can arrest medical marijuana users.)

Overall, 41 percent of 17-year-olds said they had smoked marijuana, while 39 percent said they drank and 23 percent said they smoked in the previous 30 days.
(Ed. note: This is much higher than the Dutch rate.)
See
Publisher of Marijuana Myths; Marijuana Facts
Pays for Press Release For Coverage of New Dutch Marijuana Stats

(Ed. note: In 1997, 11 million current drinkers were age 12-20. Of this group, 4.8 million, or more than 40 percent, engaged in binge drinking, including 2.0 million heavy drinkers." No one seems to mind that so many 12 year olds are drinking.)

The survey found those rates increased most sharply between ages 14 and 16, yet attitudes and exposure to drugs change earlier, with the most dramatic differences between 12- and 13-year-olds.

More than three times as many 13-year-olds said they wouldn’t report a student they saw using drugs.

The survey also concluded:

• Teens who regularly attend religious services are much less likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana or hang out with people who drink and use drugs.
• Teens who have never smoked marijuana are more likely to eat dinner every night with their parents and to rely on their parents’ opinions. Pot smokers are more likely to hang out with friends after school and less likely to listen to music or do homework after school.
• Teens who use one substance are more likely to use another: Smokers are more likely to drink and use marijuana; pot users are more likely to drink.

The third item would be the "gateway" effect. The survey shows that alcohol use precedes marijuana use, but we are told that "pot users are more likely to drink." Actually, drinkers are more likely to smoke, but that does not fit the party line.)