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Thursday, October 18, 2007

A Day In The Life Of U.S. Teens: Thousands Do Drugs

By REUTERS
Published: October 18, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A snapshot of an average day in the lives of U.S. teens shows hundreds of thousands are smoking, drinking and ingesting illegal drugs, according to a report from the federal government.

On an average day, nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoked cigarettes, 631,000 drank and 586,000 used marijuana, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found.

Nearly 50,000 used inhalants, 27,000 used hallucinogens, 13,000 used cocaine and 3,800 used heroin, SAMHSA said in its report.

"In the United States in 2006, one-third of adolescents aged 12 to 17 drank alcohol in the past year, one-fifth used an illicit drug and one-sixth smoked," the report reads.

The report is based on a number of surveys, but mostly the National Survey on Drug Use, which uses in-depth interviews of more than 60,000 people.

It found that the percentage of adolescents using alcohol and drugs declined between 2002 and 2006.
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