Statements

Statement by
Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and President
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
and
Former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
on the release of the 2002 National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VII: Teens, Parents and Siblings.

Washington, DC, August 20, 2002 - For seven years, CASA has been engaged in the unprecedented undertaking of surveying attitudes of teens and those who most influence them--parents, teachers, school principals. Other surveys seek to measure the extent of substance abuse in the population; our survey probes substance-abuse risk. We seek to identify factors that increase or diminish the likelihood that teens will use tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs in an effort to develop the most effective means of helping teens avoid substance use and abuse.

CASA's surveys have consistently found that the family is fundamental to keeping children away from tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. The 2002 CASA National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VII: Teens, Parents and Siblings keeps the focus on family, and this year seeks to assess the impact of siblings on the likelihood of teen substance abuse. This is an enormously complex task and, as with any such cutting edge analysis, we see this as a work in progress. We believe this survey provides important insights that can help parents teach their children to resist the lure of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

This year we surveyed 1,000 teens ages 12 to 17 (470 boys, 530 girls) and 541 parents, 317 of whom were parents of the teens we interviewed.

The most striking conclusions are these:

• For the first time, a majority of teens (63 percent) tell us they attend drug-free schools.

• Siblings have a major impact on substance- abuse risk: teens who say their older brothers or sisters would be “very angry” to find out they were using marijuana are at substantially lower risk of substance abuse than teens whose older siblings would not be very angry.

• Among teens who admit to smoking, drinking or having tried marijuana, by 15 years of age: 95 percent have smoked their first cigarette, 93 percent have tried their first drink and 86 percent have tried their first joint.

• For the seventh survey in a row, teens continue to say drugs are their biggest concern.

• For the first time, a higher percentage of teens surveyed finds marijuana easier to buy than both cigarettes and beer.

Drug-Free Schools

For the first time in the history of this survey, a majority of teens say they attend drug-free schools. This increase was significant in both public schools and religious schools: 62 percent of 12- to 17-year olds in public school say their schools are drug free, compared to 42 percent in 2000, and 79 percent of those in religious school say so, compared to 65 percent in 2000. Teens who attend drug-free schools are at roughly half the risk of substance abuse of teens who attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold.

Though this increase in the percentage of schools that are drug free represents a substantial improvement, much remains to be done:

• One in four students has personally witnessed the sale of illegal drugs on school grounds.

• Almost one in 10 teens (eight percent) believes a teacher at their school uses illegal drugs.

Siblings: Protectors or Pushers

This year we turned our attention to siblings and found that sibling behavior has a major influence--for good or ill--on a teen's substance- abuse risk. An older sibling can be a protector whose conduct provides a support system that helps a younger sibling stay substance free. Or a sibling can be a pusher in the home by the example of his or her own drug use or by offering or encouraging a younger sibling to use drugs. The survey found:

• Sixty-seven percent of teens with an older sibling say their older brothers or sisters would be “very angry” to find out they were using marijuana. These teens are at substantially lower risk of substance abuse than teens who think their older siblings would not be very angry.

• Almost half (48 percent) of teens with an older sibling think that an older brother or sister has tried illegal drugs. These teens are at one and a half times greater risk of substance abuse than the average teen.

• Twelve percent of teens with an older sibling report that an older brother or sister has encouraged them to use or offered them illegal drugs. A teen who lives with such a pusher in the home is almost twice as likely to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs as the average teen. A pusher in the home is equally likely to be an older sister or brother.

Most teens who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana do so by the time they are 15. Among teens who admit to smoking, drinking or having tried marijuana, the average age of first use is 12 ¼ for cigarettes, 12 ½ for alcohol and 13 ½ for marijuana. Between ages 12 and 16:

• The likelihood that a teen will smoke, drink or use illegal drugs increases almost 500 percent.

• The percentage of teens who would not report a drug user at school increases almost 500 percent. The percentage of teens who would not report a drug seller at school increases more than 500 percent.

• The percentage of teens who have close friends that use marijuana increases 1,000 percent.

Parental Paralysis

Many parents seem to view teen drug use as a fait accompli. This year's survey reveals widespread despair by parents of teenagers; many think parents have little power over their teens' substance use and a disturbing number view drugs in schools as a fact of life that they--and administrators--are powerless to stop.

• More than a third (35 percent) of parents agree that parents have little influence over their teens' decisions about using tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs.

• Parents are more likely than teens to predict future drug use by their teens. Forty-three percent of parents--but just 16 percent of teens--say future drug use by the teen is “likely.”

• Teens whose parents think future drug use is “very likely” are three times likelier to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs than teens whose parents say future drug use is “not likely at all.”

Only half of parents whose teens attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold would transfer their teen to a drug-free school if they could. Of those who would not transfer their teen, half believe there is no such thing as a drug-free school.

Parents who think they have no power over their teens are pulling the wool over their own eyes. Years of CASA research have repeatedly found that parents are the most important resource we have to prevent substance abuse in our teens. In the 2000 survey, half of teens (49 percent) who had not tried marijuana credited their parents with their decision. Expressing strong negative attitudes about marijuana to teens is important: teens who perceive marijuana as “not harmful” are at more than two and a half times greater substance-abuse risk than teens who think marijuana is “very harmful.”

The take-home message of this survey is this: if we want to prevent our teens from substance abuse, we need to bolster their will and skills to say no before age 12. The harsh reality is that for most teens, high school--and often middle school--is too late to begin.

Parents, teachers, school administrators and public policymakers must focus their attention on inoculating kids against all drugs in the early years before exposure occurs. Parents must play a key role in this drug education, but too many continue to underestimate the power they have over their teens' decisions about substance use. We know from our past surveys that Parent Power is the most underutilized tool in helping teens steer clear of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. Parents must harness this power and use it to make a difference in their teens' lives. The dramatic increase in the number of drug-free schools demonstrates that change is possible. Yet too many parents remain silent while their teens continue to be put at risk by attending drug-infested schools. When parents raise their voices and refuse to tolerate drugs in their teens' schools, the 63 percent will move closer to 100 percent.

To provide parents with the tools they need to help their children stay drug and alcohol free, CASA has compiled a list of ten questions that every parent should ask of the school their child attends. What measures is the school taking to keep alcohol, tobacco and drugs off school premises, to provide help to substance-abusing children and to create a safe, healthy learning environment? The complete list is attached.

I want to express CASA's appreciation to Steve Wagner, President of QEV Analytics, and Elehie Skoczylas, Vice President and Director of Research at QEV Analytics, for their insightful work in analyzing the data. We appreciate the counsel of our survey advisory group members: John Schulenberg, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and a Principal Investigator on the Monitoring the Future study; Peter Bearman, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Columbia University and Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Theory and Research, Columbia University and co-Principal Investigator of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; Robert Shapiro, Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Political Science, Columbia University and Editor of “The Poll-Trends” Public Opinion Quarterly; Timothy Johnson, Ph.D., Director of the Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Chicago and Associate Professor of Administration; Richard R. Clayton, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the Center for Prevention Research at the University of Kentucky; Nicholas Zill, Ph.D., a Psychologist and Vice President and Director of the Child and Family Study Area, Westat, Inc., and J. David Hawkins, Ph.D., Director, Social Development Research Group, University of Washington.

Sarah Winkeller, Special Assistant to the President at CASA, and Jennie Leszkiewicz, Research Assistant to the President, were the project managers for this effort. They have done a superb job in helping analyze the data and were ably joined by Roger Vaughan, M.S., Dr.P.H., head of CASA's Substance Abuse Data Analysis Center (SADACSM) and Consulting Editor for Statistics and Evaluation for the American Journal of Public Health. Ellen Ross, Director of Communications, and others at CASA lent their counsel. Jane Carlson and Sarah Kampel assisted with the charts.

All these individuals and institutions helped, but CASA and QEV Analytics are responsible for this report.

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