Drugs are Major Problem for Kids

Drugs Are Major Problem For Kids, Survey Shows

FDA Proposal to Regulate Nicotine Could Slash Illicit Drug Use

At a time when a newly-released survey shows that kids see illicit drugs as the most important problem facing them, the FDA's proposal to regulate nicotine in cigarettes could be the most effective and efficient technique to slash illicit drug use, says a major national antismoking organization.

As the U.S. Surgeon General has reported, teenagers who smoke cigarettes are 100 times (NOT just 100%) more likely to go on to use marijuana, and 30 times (NOT just 30%) more likely to graduate to the use of cocaine.

The Surgeon General as well as many others have called nicotine the "gateway drug" because young children usually begin with cigarettes before moving on to other drugs.

Indeed, the new survey shows that both adults and adolescents believe that smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol is the first step down the path toward illegal drug use.

An earlier study showed that

* about 65% of cocaine users started by smoking cigarettes;

* adults who started to smoke before the age of 15 are 3 times (300%) as likely to be regular hard drug users, and more than twice as likely to be regular cocaine users than those who started smoking at 18 or older;

* children who smoke daily are 13 times (1300%) more likely to use heroin than children who smoke less often.

Thus, says law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the FDA's proposals to limit children's access to cigarettes would not only reduce the social and economic costs associated with smoking, but could also have a real payoff in terms of slashing the use of illegal drugs.

"Unlike the so-called 'war on drugs' which has frequently been called an expensive failure, the war against cigarettes can easily be made far more effective at very little cost simply by adopting tougher warnings, cracking down on cigarette sales to teens, and banning cigarette sales through vending machines -- exactly what the FDA is proposing."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 18, 1995

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL: John Banzhaf (202) 659-4310

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