Alcohol Crime and Drugs - Juvenile Drug Use

In 2002 juveniles who regularly smoked cigarettes were more likely to use alcohol or illicit drugs, according to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, September 2003). The survey also reported that in 2002, 11.5 percent of juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 reported that they currently used illicit drugs. Marijuana was the most frequently used (8.2 percent of all juveniles), followed by psychotherapeutic drugs (4 percent of all juveniles), and inhalants (1.2 percent). The percentages between boys and girls aged 12 to 17 varied slightly. For boys, 12.3 percent used illicit drugs, while the rate was 10.9 percent for girls. Boys used marijuana more frequently, with girls more likely to use psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically. Illicit drug use also varied by race and ethnicity. Native Americans showed the highest rate of illicit drug use (10.1 percent), followed by blacks (9.7 percent), whites (8.5 percent), and Asians (3.5 percent).

So-called "club drugs" such as Ecstasy (MDMA), Rohypnol (known as the date rape drug), GHB, and keta-mine have become popular among teenagers at dance clubs and "raves" in recent years. Because each of these club drugs is now scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970), they are illegal and their use constitutes a criminal offense.

According to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, September 2003), 2.4 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds reported using Ecstasy, compared with 6.9 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds. Girls aged 12 to 17 (2.8 percent) were more likely to have used Ecstasy in the past year than were boys (1.9 percent), while those living in the Northeast and West were more likely to have used the drug than were those living in the Midwest. Numbers of new users of Ecstasy dropped from 1.9 million new users in 2000 to 1.8 million new users in 2001.