"Our anti-drug campaigns are getting through." She said the numbers suggested 700,000 more American teenagers were staying away from illicit drugs.

But, she told a press briefing that abuse of prescription drugs by teenagers continues to escalate.
Use of the pain-killer OxyContin grew from 4 percent to 5.5 percent of high school seniors from 2002 to 2005, Dr. Nora D. Volkow said, and their use of Vicodin has been consistently over 9 percent, clocking in at 9.5 percent in 2005.

The survey said that 8.6% of teens misused amphetamines. Many find such drugs in the family medicine cabinet or get them on the Internet.

The teen brain is particularly vulnerable to drug abuse, said Dr. Herbert D. Kleber, a professor of psychiatry and director of the division on substance abuse at Columbia University Medical School.

"The earlier a person starts, the more likely he or she is to continue doing drugs in later years," he continued.
 
Study director Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan, noting that eighth-graders had ended their declines in tobacco use, raised a concern about reduced funding for anti-tobacco messages.

"The best news in this year's report is the significant decline in cigarette smoking, not just because that ultimately is the most deadly drug but also because it confirms that drug abuse is best reduced through sensible public health measures rather than criminal penalties, prosecutions and prisons," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow gave this advice: "Clean your cabinets of all medicines that have abuse potential."