This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Pediatrics  • Adolescent Medicine  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Alert me on articles by topic

Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2006;295:612-613.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The latest data on adolescents' attitudes about and use of drugs suggest a decline in the abuse of illicit drugs by older teens. But it also offers some indications that declines in drug use may be slowing among the youngest teens and that many teens continue to abuse prescription drugs.

Results from the annual Monitoring the Future survey, which each year collects data on the attitudes and drug use habits of a nationally representative sample of about 50 000 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 at public and private schools, provide a nuanced picture of drug use patterns among teens. About 16% of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 reported abusing illicit drugs in the past month compared with 19.4% in the 2001 study. But the trend of declining use may be ending for the younger students, reported the researchers from the University of Michigan who . . . [Full Text of this Article]

GETTING THE MESSAGE