A national study conducted by Monitoring the Future surveyed about 45,000 students in 435 secondary schools. Their report indicated that for the 4th straight year, teen drug use has fallen or stayed the same in some categories, but risen sharply in others.

In 2000, teen use of cocaine, LSD and tobacco dropped. Use of Marijuana and alcohol stayed the same. Use of ecstasy and heroin (amongst 12th graders) went up.

What about Alcohol? Alcohol is the #1 drug choice among 12-17 year olds. More than 4 million teens consume alcohol in any given month. That number has stayed pretty much the same over the past several years.

22% of 8th graders reported drinking at least once in the past year.
40% of 10th graders reported drinking at least once in the past year.
51% of 12th graders reported drinking at least once in the past year.

What about tobacco? Good News! Cigarette smoking among American teens continues to go down at all grade levels.

8th graders
In 1996..... 21% of 8th graders smoked
In 1999..... it was 17.5%
In 2000..... it was 14.6%

10th graders
In 1996..... 30.4% of 10th graders smoked
In 1999..... it was 25.7%
In 2000..... it was 24%

12th graders
In 1996..... 36.5% of 12th graders smoked
In 1999..... it was 34.6%
In 2000..... it was 31.4%

What about Marijuana? Marijuana still remains the most widely used of the illicit drug. It's use amongst teens is unchanged since 1999.

In 2000..... 16% of 8th graders reported using marijuana at least once in the past year.
In 2000..... 32% of 10th graders reported using marijuana at least once in the past year.
In 2000..... 37% of 12th graders reported using marijuana at least once in the past year.

What about Ecstasy? MDMA (Ecstasy) is a very dangerous drug, but many teens haven't figured that out yet and use has gone up amongst 8th, 10th and 12th graders.

In 1999..... 1.7% of 8th graders used ecstasy.
In 2000..... 3.1% of 8th graders used ecstasy.

In 1999..... 4.4% of 10th graders used ecstasy.
In 2000..... 5.4% of 10th graders used ecstasy.

In 1999..... 5.6% of 12th graders used ecstasy.
In 2000..... 8.2% of 12th graders used ecstasy.

What about Heroin? The use of heroin fell among 8th graders while it increased among 12th graders in 2000.

In 1999..... 1.4% of 8th graders used heroin.
In 2000..... 1.1% of 8th graders used heroin.

In 1999..... 1.1% of 12th graders used heroin.
In 2000..... 1.5% of 12th graders used heroin.