The Nation : Youth Drug Use Declines

Overall illicit drug use among U.S. high school seniors declined 3% in 1986, but cocaine use is proving resistant to change, researchers said. The use of “crack”--a smokable form of cocaine--appeared for the first time as a small, but significant mode of teen drug-taking. University of Michigan researchers in Ann Arbor, in their 12th survey of 130 high schools, found that the number of seniors with some experience taking illicit drugs declined to 58% in 1986 from 61% in 1985, and the rate of current usage also fell 3%.