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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		1999 Monitoring The Future, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		December 17, 1999

Results from the 1999 Monitoring the Future survey tell us that the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs among teenagers has held steady and remain unchanged at the lower levels we announced last year -- levels that are substantially lower than 1979 peak levels. That's the third consecutive year without an increase.

What's more, alcohol and cigarette use among teens has also been relatively stable. And, for the third year in a row, the attitudes of young people toward drugs, alcohol and cigarettes have moved in the right direction -- or at the very least -- remain unchanged. In short, today's report confirms again what we've suspected for some time: that the trend of increased drug use among America's young people is grinding to a halt.

Further, it suggests that America's teenagers aren't only listening when parents, teachers and other adults tell them the truth about drugs, most important, it tells us they're also taking action . . . and changing their behavior.

Many years ago, Robert Kennedy described how a tiny ripple of hope could eventually become a powerful current of change. In much the same way, the ripple of hope we first saw in our 1997 report is becoming a strong, new current in the lives of America's young people. But, while we can all take pride in our efforts to date to get drugs, alcohol and tobacco out of the mainstream of teenage life, we know there is much work ahead of us.

If I can paraphrase Winston Churchill for a moment, this may be the end of the beginning of our drive against drug abuse, but it is hardly the beginning of the end. Yes, this report tells us there are positive developments: Over the past year, we've seen crack cocaine use begin to decrease among 8th graders. We've also seen a reduction in crack use among tenth graders. Among 12th graders, we've seen a decrease in the use of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice." More young people understand the dangers of abusing inhalants. Though it remains at unacceptably high levels, alcohol use among teenagers has stabilized. And, even though over one-third of today's teens will be cigarette smokers by the time they graduate from high school, today's report finds that smoking among teenagers not only hasn't increased, among 8th graders it's even declined.

But we are also seeing some other trends. Disturbing trends that demand our attention:

Since we began to collect data on the drug Ecstasy -- MDMA -- we've seen an increase in both lifetime and past month use among 12th graders. Past month use among high school seniors increased from 1.5 percent in 1998 to 2.5 percent in 1999. I also want to point out that past year use among 10th graders climbed from 3.3 to 4.4 percent.

Though levels have been relatively stable, too many of our young people still don't take the consequences of drinking seriously. While daily alcohol use has decreased among 12th graders since 1998, the proportion of tenth graders who've been drunk over the past year has actually grown.

And, we're seeing a profoundly disturbing increase in the abuse of steroids. Though very few teens actually use steroids, past year and past month use has increased among 8th and 10th graders. Past year use between 1998 and 1999 increased from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent among teens in both grades. In fact, among boys in the 8th and 10th grades, we've seen an average increase of 50 percent. This expansion is coupled with a significant drop among 12th graders in the perceived harmfulness of steroid use.

That's why, even as we make note of our good news, there's not a person on this dais -- or in this Administration -- who believes we can afford to let our guard down for a moment.

That's why the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently announced that it's increasing funding for research into Ecstasy and other so-called "club drugs" by 40 percent. In addition, NIDA, together with four national organizations, has launched a new public education drive to warn young people and adults alike about the dangers of club drugs. They've even created a special web site: www.clubdrugs.org.

We're also expanding our NIDA Goes to School campaign to get useful -- and usable -- information about marijuana and other drugs into the hands of younger children, their teachers and their parents.

Another effort I'm particularly excited about is the Starting Early, Starting Smart initiative. It's a collaborative effort of SAMHSA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Administration for Children and Families, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education and the Casey Family Program.

Through Starting Early, Starting Smart these agencies will work together to integrate substance abuse programs with other family services at the community level. It's a common-sense initiative based in a simple, but profoundly important understanding: that the stronger our families become, the weaker the threat of drug abuse will be.

That's also the thinking behind SAMHSA's Family Strengthening Families Grants. Ninety-five grants totaling $9.8 million have been awarded to communities to provide the parenting and family support services that we already know can help reduce substance abuse.

And that's only where our efforts begin.

We're continuing to build strong partnerships with the media and entertainers and other opinion leaders who can touch the lives of young people as almost no one else can. And we're also continuing to reach out to employers, teachers, and, most of all, to America's parents -- to remind them that not only must they be part of these efforts, but that, without their leadership, they will only be doomed to fail. This nation cannot afford to let that happen.

As you know, last Sunday the novelist Joseph Heller died. His writings captured the mood of his generation as few have. But he could have been describing the attitude of too many of today's young people when he wrote: "I'm gonna live forever . . . or die trying."

Despite our success, we know that, today, too many of our young people are dying. They're dying from alcohol abuse. From drugs like Ecstasy. Some are slowly killing themselves with tobacco products. So long as any of America's young people are at risk, we know that our good news could be better. And that's why we can't stop until that tiny ripple of hope grows into a tidal wave.

Thank you.