Drug study sees increased marijuana use among young

A national report that details a rise in the number of people using illicit drugs and increased marijuana use among teens and young adults echoes similar trends on Long Island, local experts on substance abuse said Thursday.

"In terms of the overall use, it absolutely reflects what's going on with our kids here on Long Island," said Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health released Thursday, found 8.7 percent of people over 12 and about one in five young adults aged 18 to 25 reported using illicit drugs last year - the highest levels since 2002. The report is issued annually by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Along with being the most commonly used illicit drug, the report found marijuana accounted for much of the drug use increase. Youth and young adults used the drug at higher rates than adults aged 26 and over.

The number of youths aged 12 to 17 using marijuana rose to 7.3 percent last year from 6.7 percent in 2008 - the first increase in the number since 2002. And marijuana use among young adults reached 18.1 percent last year, the highest level since 2002.

Also, the number of teens who believe smoking marijuana once or twice a week is dangerous has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in eight years.

"I think there really is a sense that if you're going to do something, [marijuana] is safer, but we know that is not the case," said Jamie Bogenshutz, executive director of YES Community Counseling Center in Massapequa.

Advocates and law enforcement officials call marijuana a "gateway drug" that can introduce youngsters to the underground world of street dealing, where they can find other, more powerful drugs.

"People in law enforcement will tell you we very seldom run into a heroin addict that hasn't used other drugs on the way down," said Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. "Kids get involved with this stuff and it's not a big deal, and to move into the heroin-cocaine arena is probably not such a big leap."

Patricia Hincken, director of alcohol and substance abuse services at Long Beach Medical Center and the president of the Nassau Alliance for Addiction Services, said nationwide debates over legalizing marijuana, and a perception among parents that marijuana use by their children is not a major cause for concern, have helped fuel the increase in usage.

"Parents are so afraid now of the opiates that they feel if you're doing marijuana, somehow they think it'll stop there," Hincken said.

More Long Islanders were admitted to treatment programs for substance abuse in 2009 than in the previous year, said Jennifer Farrell, spokeswoman for the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.

Last year, there were 36,604 admissions, compared to 35,613 in 2008, although Farrell cautioned against conflating admissions with a rise drug use.

In addition, the report also found that in 2009 more people nationwide tried heroin for the first time - 180,000 - "significantly more" than the average annual number during any year from 2002, when the report adopted its current method.

With Carol Polsky