Pubdate: Mon, 20 Feb 2006
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2006 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Author: Jon  Brodkin, MetroWest Daily News

REPORT FINDS U.S. GIRLS BEAT BOYS IN EARLY DRUG USE

In an alarming new trend, girls are now more likely than boys to start
boozing, experiment with pot and smoke cigarettes according to a new
federal report. "It doesn't  surprise me, especially not with
drugs that are going around now," said Stephany  Villaneueva, an
18-year-old senior at Framingham High School. "Girls are so
susceptible to being peer-pressured, especially if guys are around
them that  they want to impress." In 2004, 675,000  girls ages 12 to
17 began smoking pot, compared with 577,000 boys, according to  a
report by the Office of National Drug Control Policy released this
month.

In the same year,  1.5 million girls started drinking alcohol,
compared with 1.29 million boys. New  cigarette smokers numbered
730,000 among girls and 565,000 among boys.

"It used to be  the significant male peers, the jocks who set the
social agenda. Now,  oftentimes, it's the young women who do it and
the guys are along for the ride,"  said Patrick Rice, a substance
abuse specialist at MetroWest Medical Center.

Prior to 2002,  boys were more likely to initiate use of marijuana,
alcohol and cigarettes than  girls, federal officials said. Girls
surpassed boys in first-time use of  marijuana in 2002, and surpassed
boys in first-time use of alcohol and  cigarettes in 2004.

"You see that the  girls are actually drinking more than the boys
are sometimes. You'll often have  girls brought into the emergency
room, or girls passing out," said Dr. Nupur  Gupta, medical director
of the Center for Adolescent Health at Milford Regional  Medical Center.

The trends  disturb health officials because research shows girls may
become addicted to  nicotine faster than boys, and that drinking
alcohol can disrupt growth and the  onset of puberty in adolescent
girls. Girls, in  contrast with boys, often use drugs and alcohol to
self-medicate mental health  problems such as depression and anxiety,
Gupta said. "Girls do it  more because they're trying to solve
problems in their own life, either at  school or at home," Gupta
said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake