Since 1993 Roper ASW, Inc., a leading market research company, has conducted the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) for the Partnership. PATS is funded, in part, by an organizational grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. PATS Teens 2003 is a nationally projectable study, drawn from a sample of 7,270 adolescents surveyed nationwide. The margin of error for the sample is +/–1.5 percent. The study tracks both drug use, as well as drug-related attitudes. Key attitudes (the perceptions of risk and social disapproval) drive drug use and are critical in understanding further directions in drug trends.

Reductions in Teen Drug Use¹:

Overall drug use² : Lifetime use of any illegal drug is down by 10 percent over the last five years (from 51 percent in 1998 to 46 percent in 2003). Had this decline not occurred, 1.2 million more teens would have used an illegal drug than is currently the case – 12 million rather than the current 10.8 million.

Marijuana: Slow, steady declines. Down modestly over the past year (not statistically significant). Over the past five years, seven percent decline (from 42 to 39 percent). If the decline had not occurred, 760,000 more teens would have tried marijuana than is currently the case.

Ecstasy: Most significant decline among illegal drugs. Down 18 percent over the past year (11 to 9 percent), and down by 25 percent (from 12 to 9 percent) since teen Ecstasy use peaked in 2001. Net fewer teens trying Ecstasy in 2003 compared to 2002: 516,500. Net fewer users compared to 2001: 770,000.

Methamphetamine: Down from 12 to 8 percent since 1998, for a net reduction of 33 percent. Methamphetamine abuse is highly regional in nature. Some regions (Midwest and Southwest) are experiencing acute meth problems; other regions (New England) are not. The nationally-projectable data in PATS may not, therefore, reflect regional usage rates of meth.

Cocaine / crack: Nine percent of teenagers reported experimenting at least once with cocaine or crack, which is stable and largely unchanged over recent years.

Heroin: Four percent of teenagers report having tried heroin. The rate is stable and unchanged.

LSD: Significant reduction in LSD use, which re-emerged in the 1990s. LSD use among teenagers is down from 12 percent in 1998 to 7 percent in 2003, marking a 42 percent decline over the past five years.

Underage, illegal use of alcohol: All measures of underage drinking dropped over the past five years, although alcohol use remains stubbornly high: half of all teenagers in the country report using alcohol at least once in the past year.

Tobacco: Regular (past 30 day) use of cigarettes declined by 38 percent over the past five years, from 42 percent in 1998 to 26 percent in 2003. Declines in smoking between 2002 and 2003 were not statistically significant (from 28 percent to 26 percent).

Sources of Information About Drugs:

According to the study, the percentage of teens reporting seeing or hearing anti-drug ads over the past five years has increased by 63 percent (from 32 percent in 1998 to 52 percent in 2003).

More teens appear to be internalizing the information anti-drug ads have to offer. The number of teens reporting having “learned a lot” about the risks of drugs from anti-drug ads has increased 65 percent -- from one in five teens (20 percent) in 1998 to one in three (33 percent) last year.

More teens cited TV commercials as a source where they “learned a lot about the risks of drugs” in 2003 than in 2002. Non-media sources of information, including schools, parents and siblings, showed little change.

Areas of Concern:

Teenage misuse of prescription drugs: Some 21 percent of teenagers – 1 out of every 5 – report using a prescription drug without a doctor’s order. A dedicated study is being commissioned to better understand teen attitudes and usage in this area. Data from this study will be released in late 2004.

Inhalants: Fewer kids see great risk in using inhalants to get high. While lifetime abuse of inhalants declined significantly since 1998 (22 to 18 percent), inhalant abuse has stabilized over the past 2 years. Further, while not significant, past year and past month use increased slightly from 2002. This, combined with the decrease in risk perception, suggests further increases in inhalant abuse may occur.

Research shows that anti-drug campaigns are working. Together we continue to keep drug use down among teens. Please support us by making a tax-deductible donation today.

¹All measures of drug use on this summary sheet are “trial,” “lifetime” and/or “experimentation,” unless otherwise noted. These measures capture use of a certain drug at least once in a lifetime. Past year refers to 2002-2003.
²Average of current trial usage rates of marijuana, Ecstasy, methamphetamine, cocaine/crack, heroin, LSD, GHB, Ketamine and inhalants. Net does not include alcohol and tobacco.