Accompanying Statement by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and President

For 10 years, CASA has been surveying attitudes of teens and those, like parents, who most influence them. While other surveys seek to measure the extent of substance abuse in the population, the CASA back to school survey probes substance-abuse risk and identifies factors that increase or diminish the likelihood that teens will smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.

We seek to identify the most effective means of helping teens avoid substance abuse and to uncover for parents markers that affect the risk that their teens may abuse substances.

We regard this effort as a work in progress as we try each year to refine our assessment of teen substance-abuse risk and the situations and circumstances that affect it.

This year we surveyed 1,000 teens, age 12 to 17 (503 boys, 497 girls) and 829 parents (282 of which were parents of surveyed teens).

The most troubling discovery from this year’s survey is the extent to which our nation’s schools are awash in illegal and prescription drugs. Since 2002, the proportion of middle schoolers who say there are drugs in their schools is up by a startling 47 percent, and the proportion of high schoolers attending schools with drugs is up by 41 percent.

Teens who attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold are three times likelier to have tried marijuana, three times likelier to get drunk in a typical month, and twice as likely to have tried alcohol, compared to teens who attend drug-free schools.

The practical meaning of these statistics is that this Summer and Fall, 62 percent of high schoolers--some 10.6 million--and 28 percent of middle schoolers--some 2.4 million--will go to schools where drugs are used, kept or sold.

We are failing in our fiduciary responsibility to provide these children a drug-free educational environment and, in many cases, the result will be to deny them a drug-free childhood.

These are the kids most likely to be left behind. It’s time for parents to shout, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore,” and for education officials in Washington and the states, cities and counties to mount the same campaign to get drugs out of our schools as they are mounting to increase test scores.

The unfortunate fact is that so many parents accept drug-infected schools as an inevitable part of their children’s lives. Forty-eight percent of surveyed parents said that drugs are used, kept or sold on the grounds of their teen’s school, and an alarming 56 percent of these parents believe that the goal of making their child’s school drug free is unrealistic.

Another troubling finding from this year’s survey--one consistent with the sharp rise in students attending drug-infected schools--is the increase in the number of teens reporting that their peers use illegal drugs.

From 2004 to 2005:
• the percentage of teens who know a friend or classmate who has abused prescription drugs jumped 86 percent;
• the percentage of teens who know a friend or classmate who has used Ecstasy is up 28 percent; and
• the percentage of teens who know a friend or classmate who has used illegal drugs such as acid, cocaine, or heroin is up 20 percent.

Given the prevalence of substances throughout their lives--in their schools, among their friends--it is no wonder that teens continue to name drugs as their number one concern, as they have since we began conducting the survey in 1996: this year 29 percent of teens cite drugs as their top concern.

Other striking findings in this year’s survey include:

• Twelve to 17-year olds who see three or more R-rated movies in a typical month are seven times likelier to smoke cigarettes, six times likelier to try marijuana, and five times likelier to drink alcohol, compared to teens who do not watch R-rated movies.

• Teens who report that half or more of their friends are sexually active are at nearly six times the risk for substance abuse as those teens with no sexually active friends.

• Forty-two percent of 12- to 17-year olds (11 million) say they can buy marijuana within a day, and 21 percent (5.5 million) can buy marijuana in an hour or less.

The good news is that strong, positive family relationships are a powerful deterrent to teen smoking, drinking and drug use.

The substance-abuse risk for teens living in households with frequent family dinners, low levels of tension and stress between family members, parents who are proud of their teen, and a parent in whom the teen can confide is half that of the average teen.

This year’s survey findings also indicate that teen behavior is more strongly linked to teen perceptions of immorality, parental disapproval and adverse health consequences than to concerns about legal restrictions or illegality.

Morality appears to trump illegality as a motivation for teens to refrain from smoking, drinking and drug use.

For example:

• Teens who believe smoking cigarettes by someone their age is “not morally wrong” are more than seven times likelier to smoke than those who believe teen smoking is “seriously morally wrong.”

• Teens who believe drinking alcohol by someone their age is “not morally wrong” are almost seven times likelier to drink than those who believe teen drinking is “seriously morally wrong.”

• Teens who believe marijuana use by someone their age is “not morally wrong” are 19 times likelier to use marijuana than teens who believe it is “seriously morally wrong.”

• Most teens say legal restrictions have no effect on their decision to smoke cigarettes (58 percent) or drink alcohol (54 percent).

• Forty-eight percent of teens say illegality has no effect on their decision to use marijuana.

• Forty-six percent of teens say illegality has no effect on their decision to use LSD, cocaine or heroin.

Laws restricting teen smoking and drinking, and making illegal the use of drugs like marijuana and cocaine, play a significant role in combating substance abuse, but we must recognize that morality trumps illegality in deterring teen smoking, drinking and drug use.

Parent Power is the most effective way to discourage teen drug use. Most kids get their sense of morality from their parents. In this survey, the message is loud and clear: Parents, you cannot outsource your role to law enforcement.

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For the complete August 2005 report [81 page pdf] follow the link below.