Chart 1
Percentage of 13-Year-Olds Who Have Used Marijuana, 1953-1982
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Household Survey 1982
Children and Drugs
Americans have consistently identified drug use among the top problems confronting the Nation's schools. Yet many do not recognize the degree to which their own children, their own schools, and their own communities are at risk.
Research shows that drug use among children is 10 times more prevalent than parents suspect. In addition, many students know that their parents do not recognize the extent of drug use, and this leads them to believe that they can use drugs with impunity.
School administrators and teachers often are unaware that their students are using and selling drugs, frequently on school property. School officials who are aware of the situation in their schools admit, as has Ralph Egers, superintendent of schools in South Portland, Maine, that "We'd like to think that our kids don't have this problem, but the brightest kid from the best family in the community could have the problem."
The facts are:
- Drug use is not confined to certain population groups or to certain economic levels in our society; it affects our entire Nation.
- Drugs are a serious problem not only in high schools, but now in middle and elementary schools as well.
- All illegal drugs are dangerous; there is no such thing as safe or responsible use of illegal drugs.
- Although drug trafficking is controlled by adults, the immediate source of drugs for most students is other students.
Continuing misconceptions about the drug problem stand in the way of corrective action. The following section outlines the nature and extent of the problem and summarizes the latest research on the effects of drugs on students and schools.
