Alcohol and marijuana use among
teens is on the rise, ending a decade-long decline, a study being
released Tuesday found.
"I'm a little worried that we may be
seeing the leading edge of a trend here," said Sean Clarkin, director of
strategy at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which was
releasing the study. "Historically, you do see the increase in
recreational drugs before you see increases in some of the harder
drugs."
The annual "Partnership Attitude Tracking Study" (PATS)
found the number of teens in grades 9 through 12 who reported drinking
alcohol in the last month rose 11 percent last year, with 39 percent —
about 6.5 million teens — reporting alcohol use. That's up from 35
percent, or about 5.8 million teens, in 2008.
For pot, 25 percent
of teens reported smoking marijuana in the last month, up from 19
percent.
Until last year, those measures for pot and alcohol use
had been on a steady decline since 1998, when use hovered around 50
percent of teens for alcohol and 27 percent for pot.
The study
also found use of the party drug Ecstasy on the rise. Six percent of
teens surveyed said they used Ecstasy in the past month, compared with 4
percent in 2008.
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