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This is the VOA SpecialEnglish SCIENCE REPORT.
A new study examines drug use by young people in the UnitedStates.
The study found that cigarette smoking among American teenagersdropped during the past year. The drop continues a general decreasein teenage smoking rates that started in Nineteen-Ninety-Six.
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American health officials praisedthe decrease as good news in the nation's battle against smoking.They note that smoking remains the leading cause of preventabledeath and disease. Smoking rates among American teenagers increasedin the first half of the Nineteen-Nineties. However, teenage smokingrates have been decreasing in recent years.
The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Researchsupervised the latest study. The Department of Health and HumanServices reported the findings.
The study involved more than forty-four-thousand students in morethan four-hundred schools across the United States. They were askedabout past and daily use of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs.
The youngest students questioned were thirteen years old. Thestudy also involved fifteen-year-old students andseventeen-year-olds.
The most notable change in the study was a continuation of thedecrease in cigarette use among thirteen and fifteen-year-olds.
For example, about twelve percent of thirteen-year-old studentsquestioned reported smoking at least one cigarette during the pastmonth. Six years ago, the rate was twenty-one percent. Amongfifteen-year-olds, the rate dropped from thirty percent inNineteen-Ninety-Six to twenty-one percent last year.
Tommy Thompson is the secretary of Health and Human Services. Hepraised the findings. He said more teenagers are making correctchoices that will help them avoid health problems caused by tobacco.
The study found that use of alcoholic drinks and illegal drugsamong American teenagers remained the same or dropped during thepast year. However, the use of one illegal drug known as Ecstasycontinued to increase. Yet the rate of increase was not as great asin recent years.
American health officials said they will continue to giveteenagers scientific information about the serious health risks ofEcstasy and other illegal drugs. The goal is to further reduce theuse of these drugs.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.