More Girls Than Boys Turning to Drugs

ByABC News via logo
February 9, 2006, 12:56 PM

Feb. 9, 2006 — -- For the past year, first lady Laura Bush has spearheaded an initiative to steer boys away from gangs, crime and drugs. She felt the program was needed because, she said, because we have "shifted our gaze away from boys for the last several decades." A White House report released today on drug use among youths suggests that we need to keep a closer eye on girls as well.

The report reveals that in 2004, the most recent year studied, 1.5 million girls started using alcohol -- 173,000 more than the number of boys who started drinking.

During his State of the Union address, President Bush said that drug use among youth was down 19 percent since 2001. But this latest report has raised concerns about whether the message about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and smoking is reaching girls as well as it is boys.

"The reason we're pointing to this alarming trend is because if we're going to get girls to continue to decline in drug use effectively, we're going to have to deal with those causes, which are different," drug czar John Walters said.

As with alcohol use, first time tobacco and marijuana use was also higher among girls than boys. In 2004, 729,000 girls -- 164,000 more than boys -- started smoking cigarettes, and 675,000 girls -- 98,000 more than boys -- started using marijuana. Since 2002, more girls than boys have started using marijuana. The study found that for girls, marijuana was used more than cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy, and all other illicit drugs combined.

That's because girls are under a lot of stress because of their changing roles in society, said Dr. Keith Ablow, child psychologist and author. They are abusing drugs and alcohol to self-medicate.

"I think we're deluging young girls with certain expectations," he said. "They're watching dramas on television that ask them to have relationships where girls are deciding between two boys at such an early age. Fashion is designed for adults but in little sizes."

"We're going to have to focus on the particular, unique circumstances we're faced with girls, which is different today than it's ever been before, which has obstacles we've not faced before, but obstacles we can overcome if we do the right thing," Walters said.

On the home front, Ablow said that parents should behave like detectives and assume there might be a problem, especially if a girl is exhibiting low self-esteem.

"We want to believe our families are perfect," he said. "That's understandable, but better would be to say, let's think what might be wrong. Let's make sure we don't get into denial and become very sensitive to what might be going on in the lives of our daughters."