Ohio Patient Network - Teen substance abuse survey findings

The number of middle-school children that say drugs are used, kept or sold at their schools rose nearly 50 percent since 2002, and the number of high schoolers saying so rose 41 percent.

Teens who attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold are three times more likely to try marijuana, three times likelier to get drunk in a typical month and twice as likely to drink alcohol, compared to teens who attend drug-free schools.

The past year saw an 86 percent increase in the percentage of teens who know a friend or classmate who has abused prescription drugs -- from 14 percent to 26 percent of the teens surveyed.

Teens who watch more than three R-rated movies in a typical month are seven times likelier to smoke, six times likelier to try marijuana and five times likelier to drink alcohol, compared with teens who do not watch any R-rated movies.

Forty-two percent of 12- to 17-year-olds say they can buy marijuana within a day, and 21 percent can buy it in an hour.

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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