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Survey Says 13 is Important Age in Stemming Teen Drug Use

(CNN) — The transitional year between child and teenager is crucial in fighting teen drug use, according to a new survey.

The research by the Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found age 12 to 13 to be a time when children are increasingly exposed to drugs and often moving away from the control and influence of their parents.

"In no other year do teens’ perceptions and attitudes shift so markedly," the center said.

The survey found a 13-year-old is three times more likely than a 12-year-old to know how to buy drugs. It also found about twice as many 13-year-olds do not have adult supervision at home after school.

"America’s children have been crying out for help and not enough people are listening," said the center’s president, Joseph A. Califano Jr.

The annual survey of 1,000 teen-agers, 824 teachers and 822 principals found for the fourth year, teens believed drugs were their most pressing problem. In all, 39 percent of 17-year-olds said they drank alcohol, 23 percent said they smoked in the last 30 days, and 41 percent said they have smoked marijuana.

Teenagers who used one substance such as alcohol were more likely to use another such as marijuana, and marijuana uses were more likely to drink.

The survey documented a wide gap between the students and principals in perceived drug use in their schools. More than half of teen-agers and 41 percent of teachers said the drug problem at their schools is getting worse, but just 15 percent of principals saw an increasing problem.

Eighteen percent of principals, compared with 78 percent of teen students, said their schools were not drug-free.

"Principals make monkeys of themselves as they reveal their see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil posture," said Califano, a former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter administration.

The survey did find some hopeful statistics. It reported teen-agers who attend religious services are less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana or spend time with those who do.

It also found teen-agers who have never smoked marijuana are more likely to heed their parent’s opinions.

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