Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 115 Part 1.djvu/838

 115 STAT. 816 PUBLIC LAW 107-82—DEC. 14, 2001 decreased from 62.1 percent to 53.3 percent between 1991 and 1998, and the rate of eighth grade students decreased from 26.3 percent to 17.4 percent. The Troy Coahtion beUeves that this decUne represents not only a change in behavior on the part of students, but also a change in the norms of the community. (6) Despite these successes, drug use continues to be a serious problem facing communities across the United States. For example: (A) According to the Pulse Check: Trends in Drug Abuse Mid-Year 2000 report— (i) crack and powder cocaine remains the most serious drug problem; (ii) marijuana remains the most widely available illicit drug, and its potency is on the rise; (iii) treatment sources report an increase in admissions with marijuana as the primary drug of abuse— and adolescents outnumber other age groups entering treatment for marijuana; (iv) 80 percent of Pulse Check sources reported increased availability of club drugs, with ecstasy (MDMA) and ketamine the most widely cited club drugs and seven sources reporting that powder cocaine is being used as a club drug by young adults; (v) ecstasy abuse and trafficking is expanding, no longer confined to the "rave" scene; (vi) the sale and use of club drugs has grown from nightclubs and raves to high schools, the streets, neighborhoods, open venues, and younger ages; (vii) ecstasy users often are unknowingly purchasing adulterated tablets or some other substance sold as MDMA; and (viii) along with reports of increased heroin snorting as a route of administration for initiates, there is also an increase in injecting initiates and the negative health consequences associated with injection (for example, increases in HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C) suggesting that there is a generational forgetting of the dangers of injection of the drug. (B) The 2000 Parent's Resource Institute for Drug Education study reported that 23.6 percent of children in the sixth through twelfth grades used illicit drugs in the past year. The same study found that monthly usage among this group was 15.3 percent. (C) According to the 2000 Monitoring the Future study, the use of ecstasy among eighth graders increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 3.1 percent in 2000, among tenth graders from 4.4 percent to 5.4 percent, and from 5.6 percent to 8.2 percent among twelfth graders. (D) A 1999 Mellman Group study found that— (i) 56 percent of the population in the United States believed that drug use was increasing in 1999; (ii) 92 percent of the population viewed illegal drug use as a serious problem in the United States; and (iii) 73 percent of the population viewed illegal drug use as a serious problem in their communities.

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