Pubdate: Sat, 02 Sep 2000 Source: News Journal (DE) Copyright: 2000 The News Journal Contact: Letters to Editor, Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850 Fax: (302) 324-2595 Website: http://www.delawareonline.com/ Author: Steven Church DELAWARE LEADS U.S. IN TEEN DRUG USE Federal study finds 18.3% use rate here as national numbers decline Delaware teens have the highest drug-use rate in the country, according to a federal survey released this week. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found 18.3 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds surveyed said they had taken drugs. Among 18- to 25-year-olds, only two states ranked higher than Delaware in the same category. Those were Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Nationwide, the survey found drug use among teen-agers had fallen to 9 percent. That's down from 9.9 percent in 1998 and 11.4 percent in 1997. This was the first year state-by-state numbers were available, so the survey did not show whether drug use in Delaware had risen or fallen in recent years. State health officials downplayed the study. "In other reports, Delaware fares much better," said Janis Shields, spokeswoman for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. Federal officials said they stand behind their study's accuracy, but researchers agreed to help Delaware discover why the state ranked so high. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said there were some anomalies in the federal data. There are often differences between studies because research methods vary, said Mark Weber, director of communication for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. State officials pointed to a 1999 Centers for Disease Control study that found Delaware ranked below most other states for cocaine use. That study ranked Delaware 14th out of 33 states for heroin use among high school students and eighth for marijuana use, said Gregg Sylvester, secretary of the state Department of Health and Social Services. The Centers for Disease Control survey was more narrowly focused on high school students and so may have missed some younger teen-agers, Sylvester said. The National Household Survey used census and FBI data and information provided by each state, Weber said. But the heart of the study was a survey of 67,000 people nationwide who were older than 12. They were asked whether they had taken drugs, smoked or binged on alcohol in the previous month or year. The results from Delaware did not surprise Ginny Lan-czkowski, a founder of Heroin Hurts Inc. The group counsels more than 300 families in Delaware with children addicted to heroin, she said. Delaware's overall drug-use rate is boosted by heroin and marijuana use among teen-agers, Lanczkowski said. Lanczkowski said her group has found marijuana and heroin are closely linked among teen-agers. Some children become addicted to heroin when they start smoking marijuana laced with heroin, Lanczkowski said. "That's how my son got addicted," she said. "He became addicted as a teen-ager right out of high school." New Castle County police officers have had reports of drug dealers intentionally putting heroin in marijuana to get their customers addicted and coming back, Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said. Heroin use in Delaware has soared in the 1990s. Deaths from heroin overdoses doubled between 1991 and 1997, from 14 to 29, the latest figures that are available. The number of people treated for heroin addiction jumped from 426 to 1,767 during the same period. The federal survey also found that adolescents who smoke marijuana are seven times more likely to have a later drug addiction than people who began using a drug as an adult. The state was tied for third in the percentage of 18- to 25-year-olds reporting that they had been addicted to drugs or alcohol in the previous year. Delaware was eighth for 12- to 17-year-olds in the same category. The state last year approved $12 million for a grant program to help community groups fight drugs, Shields said. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck