Posted on 09/07/2006 9:03:19 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By KEVIN FREKING,
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Some moms and dads might want to take a lesson from their kids: Just say no. The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of baby boomers ages 50 to 59 indicated that they had used illicit drugs in the past month. It marks the third consecutive yearly increase recorded for that age group by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Meanwhile, illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year — from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005.
"Rarely have we seen a story like this where this is such an obvious contrast as one generation goes off stage right, and entering stage left is a generation that learned a lesson somehow and they're doing something very different," said David Murray, special assistant to the director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The annual survey on drug use and health involves interviews of about 67,500 people. It provides an important snapshot of how many Americans drink, smoke and use drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Overall, drug use remained relatively unchanged among Americans age 12 and older in 2005. About 19.7 million Americans reported they had used an illicit drug in the past month, which represented a rise from 7.9 percent to 8.1 percent. The increase was not only due to the boomers, but an increase was also seen among those 18-25, the age category that always ranks highest when it comes to illicit drug use.
Among the 18-25 group, drug use rose from 19.4 percent to 20.1 percent. Federal officials commenting on the report emphasized the drop in use among younger teens without citing the increase in the next older age group.
"The news today is there is a fundamental shift in drug use among young people in America," Assistant Surgeon General Eric B. Broderick said in a statement.
Murray called the 18-25 group the gauntlet through which everybody runs. He said the peak of drug use among youth in the United States occurred in the late 1970s.
"And they brought it with them like baggage when they hit 50 and 60," Murray said.
Drug use by baby boomers increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent last year. Marijuana was by far their drug of choice, Murray said.
That's true overall. There were 14.6 million people who reported using marijuana in the past month, about 2.4 million cocaine users and 6.4 million people who used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, such as pain relievers, tranquilizers or sedatives. In 60 percent of those cases, the drugs came from a relative or friend for free. Only 4.3 percent reported buying the drug from a drug dealer or other stranger.
While drug use went up slightly in '05, so did alcohol use. Slightly more than half of Americans age 12 and older reported being current drinkers of alcohol. That translates to 126 million people, up from 121 million people the year before.
Officials noted that alcohol use among those 12-17 did decline from 17.6 percent to 16.5 percent.
The percentage of Americans who acknowledged driving drunk at least once in the past year also dropped slightly in 2005 — from 13.5 percent to 13 percent.
Meanwhile, tobacco use held steady at about 29.4 percent, even though among youths 12-17, tobacco use did drop from 14.4 percent to 13.1 percent.
____
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Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/
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This presumably spoken with a straight face by someone who has condemned an entire generation of baby boomers. ROFL. Pathetic doesn't begin to explain your posts.
If I want to know what you think, I will ask your leader.
A typical comeback by someone who doesn't have the intellectual ability to defend her own hypocrisy.
I just didn't know such childishness would show up on FR.
For what it is worth in my county trailers regularly go for more than $300,000.00 and I've seen them break $900,000.00.
What really troubled me when I read all the posts is that a couple of people contributed nothing to the subject at hand, they simply tried to annoy you enough to push you off the thread, it was a sharp reminder that on the computer we are forced to mix with people that we could avoid in a actual, real life situation.
I just hope that most people realize, and I know most do, that it doesn't matter where or what you live in, we are all the same in God's eyes and there is bad in every group.
I'll wager that you could make a pretty good guess.
If they're using that much dope, they're probably are too stoned to find the polling place on election day anyway.
1. Did drugs 2. Married multiple times 3. still has mental problems
I am so thankful that she was a mess otherwise I might have turned out to be a liberal.
LOL. My mother's the same except she's never been married and my maternal grandparents (FDR democracts) raised me. I rebelled and went to the "dark side" largely because I couldn't wrap my head around my grandmother's pro-choice stance.
We should probably start a support group, LOL!
"Rarely have we seen a story like this where this is such an obvious contrast as one generation goes off stage right, and entering stage left is a generation that learned a lesson somehow and they're doing something very different," said David Murray, special assistant to the director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
So the ONDCP approves of teens using drugs more than twice as often as Boomers? Interesting.
So, 9.9 percent of those 12-17 is more than double 4.4 percent of those 50-59? Got the math to support that claim?
Illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year, and you think the ONDCP is celebrating the percentage and not the decline? Give you lemonade and YOU make lemons.
So, 9.9 percent of those 12-17 is more than double 4.4 percent of those 50-59?
Obviously I meant proportionately twice as often, silly little man.
If the raw size of the two groups is the same, then citing proportions has some significance when comparing the two.
You have no idea what you're tallking about.
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