It turns out that failure to persecute the sick and dying for using medical marijuana does not "send the wrong message to teenagers."

On the other hand, arrests for drug abuse violations are at their highest levels ever for adults and juveniles. The number of arrests for drug abuse violations has risen 52.4 percent for adults (from 850,000 in 1986 to 1,295,000 in 1996) and 141 percent for juveniles (from 88,000 in 1985 to 211,000 in 1996) (FBI, 1998).)
See
Juvenile Drug Arrests Soar As Result of Increased Popularity Of Marijuana And Ignorance of Risks Of Laws

Survey Suggests Teen Drug Use Rose in 97

From the Washington Post
Associated Press
August 22, 1998

Drug use by young people increased last year, led by rising marijuana smoking among teenagers who view it as a low-risk "soft drug," according to a government survey released yesterday.

Among those ages 12 to 17, 11.4 percent reported using some illicit drug within the past month when they were surveyed last year, compared with 9 percent in 1996. The drug of choice among the group was marijuana, with 9.4 percent using it last year. In 1996, 7.1 percent had reported using marijuana.
(Ed. note: Almost all of the reported increase was in marijuana use, but this can be interpreted two ways. Marijuana use may have increased by more than 25% -- or the two percentage points may be within the margin of error and there may have been no change.)

The annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that the percentage of teens using heroin held steady last year. Among 12- to 17-year-olds, only 0.2 percent said they had used heroin within the past month of being surveyed, the same number as in 1996.

The number of first-time heroin users, however, was at an all-time high in the last year for which numbers on teen use were available, 1996. Preliminary numbers indicate 171,000 teens used heroin for the first time in 1996, up from the 117,000 who tried it in 1995.

The number of first-time users of marijuana was estimated at 2.54 million in 1996, up from 2.41 million in 1995.

Marijuana is popular because many teens don’t see it as dangerous, said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. Shalala traced the relaxed attitude to parents.

These are the people who talk about "sending the wrong message." She should be fired, but no one will even challenge her on this deadly advice. This is why DEAland’s hard drug problem is so much worse than Holland’s.)

The survey, an annual snapshot of illegal drug use in the nation, was conducted throughout the country last year by interviews with 24,500 people in their homes.

Despite the increase in teen drug use, the overall use of illegal drugs in the country remained fairly steady last year. About 14 million people—or 6.4 percent of the population age 12 and older—used drugs last year, according to the survey. The overall drug use rate in 1996 was 6.1 percent.

Drug use among adults has been stable for years, and last year’s figure is slightly more than half the peak year in 1979, when there were 25 million users.

Other findings from the survey:

Teens are more likely to use illegal drugs if they already use cigarettes and alcohol.

About 4.5 million young people ages 12 to 17 had used cigarettes within the past month. There was a significant increase among 12- to 13-year-olds, growing from 7.3 percent in 1996 to 9.7 percent last year.

The percentage of teens who currently consume alcohol has remained stable since the 21 percent reported in 1992. In 1979, the rate was 50 percent.
(Ed. note: The prohibitionist like to cite the drop in teen marijuana use since 1979 as proof that marijuana prohibition is working, but teen alcohol use has fallen more than teen marijuana use – without arresting millions of adults for alcohol possession.)

Marijuana continues to be the most frequently used illegal drug in the country, with about 11.1 million people, or 5.1 percent of the population 12 and older, saying they had used it in the past month. The figure was about the same in 1996.

© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press

From Reuters
August 21, 1998
By Joanne Morrison

(Ed. note: Catch the difference in the lead sentences. The AP says, "Drug use by young people increased last year, led by rising marijuana smoking among teenagers who view it as a low-risk "soft drug," Reuters says, "Drug abuse among America’s children is increasing, fueled by a continued rise in marijuana use, according to a government survey released Friday." The proper wording is very important party of the party line.)

U.S. GOVERNMENT SURVEY SHOWS YOUTH DRUG USE ON RISE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug abuse among America’s children is increasing, fueled by a continued rise in marijuana use, according to a government survey released Friday.

Illicit drug use among those from 12 to 17 years old rose to 11.4 percent in 1997 from 9 percent in 1996.

During the same period, marijuana use in that age group increased to 9.4 percent from 7.1 percent, according to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Officials surveyed 24,505 individuals.

"We have a serious marijuana problem among our young people," said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. "This survey shows that our work in combating drug use must be focused on our young people."

Shalala said the 1997 gain is part of a trend showing a "persistent increase" in marijuana use among youth from 1992 to 1997.

"Today we’re not declaring defeat—or giving up hope. But what we are declaring is the need for a renewed focus on marijuana," she said.

More children, she said, are using marijuana because they don’t believe it’s dangerous, citing a shift in young people’s perception of the dangers of marijuana that began in 1990.

"Our children are wrong. Marijuana is not safe," Shalala warned. "Marijuana impairs learning. Marijuana impairs memory."
(Ed. note: No one will ask what the risks are in using marijuana once a week. There is no evidence that there is any medical risk in that level of use. Do kids use alcohol and tobacco because they think that they are safe. The report says " 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."·

Cigarette use among the nation’s youth also increased in 1997. Among those age 12 to 13, cigarette use increased to 9.7 percent in 1997 from 7.3 percent.

Alcohol use among children has remained relatively stable since 1992, according to the survey. However, drug use among youths was higher with those who were currently using cigarettes and alcohol.

Overall, an estimated 13.9 million Americans, about 6.4 percent of the U.S. population 12 and older, were current users of illicit drugs last year, up slightly from the 13 million estimate in 1996.

Of that total, an estimated 11.1 million Americans in 1997 were current marijuana users, representing 5.1 percent of the nation’s population age 12 and older.

While there was a slight gain in 1997 of the total number of drug users, the level remains about half its peak—reached in 1979 -- when there were 25 million current users.

Use of hallucinogens, inhalants, cocaine and heroin remained relatively flat, even among young people, according to the study.

U.S. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey said the initial response from that effort has been overwhelming. "Phone calls from parents and children seeking information and help from national and local hot lines have increased 121 percent," McCaffrey said.

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, applauded the Administration’s efforts to curb drug abuse, but expressed concerns that lawmakers would approve adequate funding for the effort.

"Unfortunately, while the President has requested more than $17 billion for drug-control efforts in the next fiscal year, many Republicans in Congress aren’t joining in the national effort to fully eradicate drug use in America," the lawmaker said.

^REUTERS

Survey data on Arizona and California
By Rob Stewart stewart@dpf.org Of the Drug Policy Foundation www.dpf.org

As promised by McCaffrey last year, the survey also includes a new section on drug use in Arizona and California. Based on a quick read, here is a summary of that new data.

The surveyors oversampled residents from the two states to "measure the potential impact of [the] voter intiatives" on drug use in those states. The oversampling started in the 2d quarter of 1997. (Previous NHSDAs did not provide information about prevalence in specific states. It now looks as if future surveys will.)

Overall drug use in both states by residents age 12 and older was higher than the national average. Past-month use of any illicit drug was reported by:

6.1% of the U.S. population except for AZ and CA, 8.4% of Arizonans, and 8.3% of Californians.

More important, past-month marijuana use was:

5.0% for U.S. excluding AZ and CA,

6.1% for Arizonans, and

6.0% for Californians.

9.9% for U.S. excluding AZ and CA,

13.1% for Arizona, and

6.6% for California.

Because the sample populations surveyed in CA in past surveys have been large in past NHSDAs, HHS was able to compare previous years with the 1997 oversampling data. There appears to be no increase between 1996 and 1997 in marijuana use, either by adults or youth. (Curiously, HHS says that they can compare CA data back till 1994, but don’t provide a glimpse of what was happening before the Prop. 215 campaign caught fire in 1996.) In addition, there was no significant change in attitudes about the risks associated with most drug use from 1996 to 1997.

The survey goes out of its way to add a bullet about the fact that a lower percentage of California youth reported "great risk" associated with monthly cocaine use than in the rest of the nation. HHS doesn’t say what attitudes about cocaine (which is already available through medical channels) have to do with a medical marijuana campaign.

It is worth pointing out that California’s Prop. 215 campaign was, by far, the better known, more widely debated campaign of the two. Prop. 200 was promoted quietly, particularly early on,and without much reference to Schedule I drugs beside marijuana. Yet AZ apparently has higher levels of illegal drug use and lower perceptions about the risks involved in drug use. Whatever impact Prop. 200 had on illegal drug use in AZ, it had to have been minimal compared with the impact of Prop. 215.