Partnership Attitude Tracking Study: Teens 2003
Partnership for a Drug-Free America

The study has found significant declines in teens using marijuana, Ecstasy, LSD and methamphetamine, as well as noteworthy declines in the number of teenagers using alcohol and smoking cigarettes. The data indicate substantial improvements in drug-related attitudes among teens, which are driving consumption downward. The study interviewed 7,270 adolescents nationwide. Data are nationally projectable with a +/- 1.5 percent margin of error. Researchers pointed to three areas of concern, per the study: 1) Inhalant abuse: Fewer kids are seeing risk in using inhalants to get high, and the data report an up-tick in inhalant abuse. Erosion in key risk attitudes suggest more increases are possible. 2) Misuse of prescription drugs: Some 21 percent of teenagers - 1 in every 5 - report using a prescription drug without a doctor's order. And 3) Parent-child communication at home: Only one in three teenagers (32 percent) report learning a lot about the risks of drugs at home.


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