Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2007
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Section: Feature Article
Website: http://www.drugsense.org
Author: Matthew Robinson, PhD
Note: Matthew Robinson is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at 
Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.  He is co-author of Lies, 
Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims 
Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, State University 
of New York Press, 2007.

WHITE HOUSE SPINNING YOUTH DRUG USE DATA

The 2007 report of the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study has been 
released ( http://www.monitoringthefuture.org ). MTF is a survey of 
American 8th, 10th, and 12th graders pertaining to their illicit drug 
use.  Recent claims by the White House Office of National Drug 
Control Policy (ONDCP) with regard MTF data are misleading and do not 
tell the whole story about youth drug use.

First, ONDCP's online summary of the MTF findings focuses on a very 
short period of time -2001-2007 ( 
http://whitehousedrugpolicy.org/news/youthdrug_declines.html ). As in 
its annual National Drug Control Strategy reports, ONDCP downplays 
long-term drug use trends among young people. In fact, the ONDCP 
website depicts only four figures, all showing declines. ONDCP does 
acknowledge increases in some drugs (e.g. Oxycontin), but it does not 
depict these increases in figures.  Instead, as in its Strategy 
reports, ONDCP visually depicts declines in drugs like meth and steroids.

Second, some of ONDCP's claims are deceptive. For example, it says 
Ecstasy use among young people is down 54% since 2001. While this is 
true, it is also true that Ecstasy use is essentially unchanged since 
1997.  Ecstasy use increased from 1997 to 2001, then declined since. 
Overall, the trend is unchanged.

ONDCP offers a slideshow on its website which summarizes some of the 
main findings from MTF ( 
http://whitehousedrugpolicy.org/pdf/MTF2007_ONDCP.pdf ). The 
slideshow proves that the drug war has not been effective at reducing 
drug use among young people over the long term. This is important 
because ONDCP's Performance Measures of Effectiveness demonstrates 
that ONDCP intends to consistently reduce drug use, something it has 
simply not done.

Figures in the slideshow also show that use of prescription drugs is 
consistently up among 12th graders since 1991. While other drugs are 
down (e.g., LSD), this raises the possibility that young people have 
not stopped using drugs but rather have just switched to drugs that 
are lying around in their parents' homes. Ironically, these 
prescription drugs are more addictive and potentially dangerous to 
young people.

Third, ONDCP takes credit even for reductions in alcohol and tobacco. 
It says: "When we push back against illegal drug use, youth abuse of 
other substances decrease as well [sic]." ONDCP offers no evidence 
that reductions in alcohol use and tobacco use among young people 
have anything to do with the drug war, and that is because they don't have any.

In fact, the most consistent declines among all drugs depicted in the 
slideshow are for tobacco, a drug against which we are not waging a 
war; instead we are using honest educational campaigns combined with 
efforts to restrict legitimate businesses from selling tobacco 
products to kids. It is dishonest and wrong for ONDCP to take credit 
for these declines.

The bottom line is that we've been fighting the modern drug war since 
the 1970s.  ONDCP's slideshow proves that illicit drug use trends are 
virtually unchanged since 1975 among 12th graders - drug use 
increased from 1975 to 1979, declined consistently until 1991, and 
then increased since then.  Recent declines in illicit drug use are 
quite small and have not negated the increasing trend since 1991. 
Illicit drug use among 8th and 10th graders has also not declined 
since 1991. The slideshow also shows that drugs are just as available 
now as they were in 1992, in spite of increased spending every year 
on the supply side portion of the drug war.

In other words, during the tenure of ONDCP (1988-2007), drug use 
among youth is not down, and drugs are no less available to young 
people. This is just further proof that ONDCP is failing to meet its 
drug war goals of reducing use and availability of drugs.

The President of the United States responded to the data, saying the 
war on drugs is fought against an "unrelenting evil that ruins 
families, endangers neighborhoods, and stalks our children" ( 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071211-4.html ). If 
this is true, ONDCP's drug war is failing to keep this evil at bay. 
In spite of the spin, its own data prove it.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake