Encouraging Numbers: Steady Progress on Reducing Teen Alcohol, Drug Use

(Cape Cod Times, July 26) Fewer high school students are using drugs and alcohol, according to a new study. Research from the US Centers for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior study found that overall use of marijuana in the past decade has decreased from 27.6 percent in 1997 to 21.7 percent last year. Other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, psychedelics and others, have also decreased steadily. In Massachusetts, alcohol use dropped from 53 percent in 1997 to just 33.9 percent last year. Similarly, marijuana use decreased to 24.5 percent. READ MORE.