Reuters Health Information (2006-09-07): US drug use falls, except among older adults

Good news from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The full report is here:

'The news today is there is a fundamental shift in drug use among young people in America,' said Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick, who is SAMHSA Acting Deputy Administrator.

'We first saw this shift towards healthier decisions when rates of tobacco use among young people began to go down. Now, we see a sustained drop in rates of drug use. We will see if the decline in drinking among 12-to 17-year-olds becomes a continued pattern as well,' he said.

But certain dangerous patterns of alcohol use did not change -- nearly 23 percent of all people aged 12 and older admitted to binge drinking.