ABSTRACT
Recent national survey data indicate that the decade-long decline in substance abuse that took place throughout most of the 1980s has not only been reversed, but that adolescent substance abuse has increased markedly since 1992. The problem is particularly keen among junior and senior high school youth, where there has been a sharp increase in marijuana use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders as well as an increase for all three grade levels in the use of cigarettes, stimulants, LSD, and inhalants (Johnston, O’Malley, & Bachman, 1995). For marijuana, lifetime use has nearly tripled since 1992 among 8th graders, has nearly doubled for 10th graders, and has increased by 50% among 12th graders.
