A question: 11% fewer children are now using drugs than 2 years ago..

[kentuck]

This was a fact put out by Bush in his SOTU speech. How did they come about that number? I think he related it to 4 million children?

I was thinking - a dangerous occupation in Bush's America - how did they get that figure? Did they bust 4 million less children with drugs? How did they know there were children doing drugs that were not caught?

Who is going to dispute their numbers? Makes one wonder about their 5.7% unemployment and 8% growth quarters, etc. Are all the numbers simply made up to make htem look good during the election season?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. can't afford it anymore

?

[Wonco_the_Sane]

9. LOL

loved that

[ramapo]

2. I was wondering the same thing

Of course, one can always find a statistic someplace or manipulate the results of some study or report. I'm sure there's some backing to the statistic that Bush cited but that doesn't make it very meaningful.

[displacedtexan]

3. Even if that number is correct...

How would you answer the drug question 'in these interesting' times? No sane teen is going to admit to drug use after watching the fate of Tommy Chong (glassware seller) played out on national TV.

[OldEurope]

4. Declining birthrate? Less children - less drugs. nt

[KansDem]

5. Rush is still using...

As far as I'm concerned, he makes up for the difference. Besides, he's the biggest child I've ever seen...

[shanti]

6. i don't believe ANY of their bullshyt numbers

they make them up on the fly.

[mistertrickster]

7. They have to work on the plantation paying off the deficit . . .

nt.

[NewJeffCT]

8. as usual, technically correct - but...

There is a big BUT with this one. A recent survey pointed to a decrease in drug use among children that was only certain types of better known drugs. However, the survey went on to point out that alternative drugs (inhalants, I think?) were on the rise. I'll see if I can dig up today's article from the Hartford Courant.

[Wonco_the_Sane]

10. 86% of all statistics are completely made up

[veracity]

11. drug of choice has changed

The statistics are gleaned from questionnaires given to teens. They answer anonymously, of course, and are given to select demographics similar to the poll questions.

Small isuue that was not included, of course - was that more kids are drinking alcohol now than ever, - and were never big on using hard drugs. Alcohol is not referred to by politicians as a drug. Duh! Pot is still used extensively by young people - as is ecstasy. But liquor is found in the home, and is so available that it makes sense to make the change. Kids, generally, were never big on cocaine and heroine - not as the drug of choice. Pot always won out, until now,- but it was a clever statistic to use.

[spindoctor]

12. Excellent question

Whenever a politician measures something in percentages, you should be on alert.
If it is really something to brag about, they use factual numbers.

It was odd that he used this statement to push mandatory drug tests in schools. If he is doing such a good job bringing down illegal drug use among teenagers, then why bother?

The number can easily be turned around as you already mentioned. 11% less teenagers were busted using illegal drugs. That is an indication of how understaffed our schools are and the priorities of our teachers, who are forced to focus on test results for the NCLB Act.

Another possibility is that teenagers switched to legal drugs. My children assure me that in their nice suburbian high school one has bigger choice than in the local pharmacy. I guess these can be considered legal drugs, although excessive use of them without prescription is still highly illegal (right, Mr. Limbaugh?).

Anyway, maybe my kids are hanging with the wrong croud but drug use seems to be more common than it was in my days. You know what its like in midwestern suburbia though. Its very hard to find decent people here, which is why families from all over town flock to the big cities to raise their children in a safer drug-free environment.

[Bozola]

13. 400,000 he said.

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2003/nida-19.htm


Methodology:

The Monitoring the Future survey is designed to measure drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. Overall, 48,467 students from 392 public and private schools in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades participated in this year’s survey. The survey is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of HHS’ National Institutes of Health, and conducted since its inception by the University of Michigan. Information from this survey helps the nation to identify potential drug problem areas and ensure that resources are targeted to areas of greatest need.


-------------------------

Pardon me for laughing. I can't imagine any high school doper EVER answering these things honestly.

Duuuuude, like when I was in Junior High, like, I was a serious doper and glue addict. Like, thanks to a survey and some ugly white people on TV commercials, I've switched to more socially accepted forms of personal abuse, duuuude. Like, get this, beer, vodka, and huffing HUMVEE exhaust. Like, thanks, Duuude Bush!

[kentuck]

14. Thanks for the correction Bozola...

I must admit I was not hanging on his every word.. :)

[Timefortruth]

15. How many fewer children are there than 4 years ago?

There was a baby boom in the late '80's maybe the absolute number is down causing the decline?

[TreasonousBastard]

16. I've heard those sorts of numbers, too...

along with teenage pregnancies going down, and some other more or less good news.

Kids are no different than the rest of us, and things evolve, so I'm willing to go along with it. This latest generation of kids may actually be listening to anti-drug propaganda and seeing the local crackheads kind of brings it home.

As with everything else in the SOTU, though, it's Shrub speaking, and nothing is to be taken seriously. By today, tomorrow at the latest, any anti-drug intiative has been forgotten and axed from the budget.

Where's all the good stuff from last year's SOTU? We got a war, and that's about it.

The best line was his talking about the horror of lives destroyed by drugs, and all I could think of was "It didn't do so bad by you, eh?"