Study Cites Parents as Drug Use Rises

Drug use among teenagers has accelerated sharply in the last five years while the number of parents who warn their children about the dangers of drug use has fallen, according to an independent study. Use of illicit drugs among students ages 11 to 18 has risen in nearly every category, the National Parents’ Resource Institute for Drug Education reported in its latest annual survey of adolescents about alcohol, tobacco and drug use. The percentage of students who said their parents talk to them often about the dangers associated with alcohol and other drugs dropped to its lowest level in six years, to 29.6%--down from 40.3% five years ago.