European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes thursday february 15,1990 High school drug use stays on the decline Survey finds stateside Washington a use of illegal drugs by High school seniors College students and other Young adults declined in 1989. Continuing a decade Long trend. The finding was announced tues Day in an annual Survey funded by the a Limnal Institute on drug abuse. It said illegal drug use dropped last year among All three categories of Young people surveyed and that casual use among High school seniors and College students is about half the Rale of a dec Ade ago. Still one of every two High school students uses an illicit drug before graduation the Survey said. More than 40 percent have smoked Mari Juana and i in 10 has tried cocaine before getting a diploma. Health and human services Secretary Louis Sullivan said that while the continued trend is Good news too Many people still use  he also expressed concern about the level of alcohol and tobacco use in High schools. William Bennett director of the office of National drug control policy said inc Survey results were very  but lie added now is precisely not inc time to Case up on our efforts and move on to other  Bennett said efforts to Date have reached those easiest to reach and that now the work May gel  he and Sullivan agreed that reducing inc Supply of drugs is As important As cutting demand. The Survey was conducted by the University of Michigan s Institute for social research. Lloyd Johnston a University of Michigan social scientist who was principal investigator of inc Survey said the trend toward less drug use has come about because anti drug messages have made illegal drug use  he noted the drop off has been occurring despite Stu dents belief that marijuana and co Caine Are easy to gel. Survey officials however said they continue to be concerned about the use of crack the highly Addic Tive Smo Kable form of cocaine. Its use among mainstream Young adults is declining the Survey found but not As much As use of powdered co Caine. Among seniors. 1.4 percent said they had used crack within the previous 30 Days Down from 1.6 percent in 1988. The officials also expressed concern about the use of ice or Crystal myth Amphy taming which was included in the Survey for the first time last year. About 1.2 percent of the seniors surveyed said they had used it at least once in the past year. Usage was High est in the West where 3 percent of the seniors had used it. The drug Mana. Known As  also was included for the first time and was shown to have been tried by 3.8 percent of inc col lege students and 3.3 percent of the High school graduates not in College. The Survey also asked High school seniors about anabolic steroids which arc a controlled substance used to build Muscles. About 3 per cent said they have used these drugs. Illegal drug use among High school seniors peaked in 1981, when the Survey found that 65.6 percent said they had used marijuana cocaine or some other illicit drug at least once during their lives. That figure dropped during the decade to 30.9 percent in 1989. The Survey of College students showed 36.7 percent used an illicit drug at least once during the previous year compared with 56.2 percent in 1980, when this Survey began. Among Young adults Ages 19-28, use of an illegal drug within the pre Vious year has dropped to 32.8 per cent from 41.9 percent in 1986, the first year this group was tracked. In 1979. Nearly 39 percent of High school seniors said they had used an illegal drug during the previous 30 Days. By 1989 that figure had dropped by nearly half to 19.7 per cent. College students saw a similar decline from 38.4 percent in 1979 Down to 18.2 percent last year. Johnston said that although the Survey misses High school dropouts. The data suggest the decline in drug use May also extend to this group As Well. Occasional drag use is Down. Occasional marijuana users admitted using marijuana in past month in millions 22.5 16.2 20 18.2 10.2n 77 79 82 85 88 occasional cocaine users admitted using cocaine in past month in millions 5 8 4.3 4.2 1.6n 2.9 77 79 82 85 88 but frequent use May be going up. Frequent cocaine users admitted using cocaine in past week k2floo 647,000 85 88 and drug related emergencies Worsen emergency room cases a finn in which patient 48l00� mentioned cocaine use selected hospitals 8,830rnfl 84 85 86 87 88 source Nan Institute on drug abuse use of cocaine May reduce Fertility in men study finds new York a cocaine use May lower sperm counts and create other abnormalities that diminish male Fertility z new study suggests but the effect apparently begins to disappear after drug use stops. The study focused on men from couples who were consulting an infertility clinic at Yale University. It appears in this month s Issue of Fertility and sterility the official journal of the american Fertility society. A specialist in male infertility cautioned tuesday Hiji the study docs not show thai cocaine use caused infertility in the men. This is provocative but by no Means evidence of cause and  said Richard Sherins of the genetics and 1vf Institute of Fairfax. A. Researches studied 40 men with Low sperm counts. 77 who had sperm with Low mobility which essentially Means too few sperm were swimming correctly and 75 who had High concentrations of abnormally shaped sperm. Each of these problems can contribute to infertility. Cocaine use by these men was compared to that of 284 other male partners of couples who consulted the Yale clinic but did not have these problems. Researchers found that men who had Low sperm counts were twice As Likely As men in the comparison group to have used cocaine within the previous two years. They were five times As Likely to have used it once a month or More and within the previous two years or to have used it once a month or More and for two to four years. Men with the Mol Lily problem were twice As Likely As the comparison group to have used cocaine for five or More years. Men with High concentrations of abnormally shaped sperm were seven times As Likely to have used cocaine for five years or More and two years or longer ago and four times As Likely to have used it once a month or More and for two to four years. Male infertility plays some role in almost two thirds of couples who have trouble conceiving the research ers said. Given that research shows cocaine use to be quit prevalent among men Ages 26 to 34. And Given the drug s apparent effect in the new study i think one can conclude that it May be a significant risk Factor for infertility said study co author Michael Bracken professor of epidemiology obstetrics and gynaecology at Yale University. But Sherins said the statistical association Between co Caine and infertility in the study was weak. The research whets your appetite for doing the study right he said. The proper approach would include medical diagnosis of what was causing infertility in the couple he said or a demonstration of How sperm Quality changes As a person starts or stops taking cocaine. The researchers did not explore How cocaine could affect Fertility. They suggested it May affect Early sperm development by disrupting hormonal patterns or harm testicular functioning by reducing blood flow. Dog chained at Home Dies after setting off fire by Cox news service West Palm Beach. Fla. A dog chained in a Utility room while his owners were away tuesday wrapped his Metal Leash around the terminals of a car Battery causing Sparks and a fire that destroyed the room and killed the dog. I just can t believe it happened to us said Shari fulls. 43. The of Ultsch leashed their Salt and Pepper miniature Schnauzer Theodore Iii to a set of barbells in the Utility room tuesday morning. Then Martin Fultz 45, took his disabled wife to a stale health and rehabilitative services office for help with rent and medical Bills and went to work at Southern Pines Nursery in Loxa Hatchic. Mrs. Fulls returned Home to find her belongings encrusted in smoke and her dog dead of smoke inhalation inside the front door. Red Cross to use just half of funds on quake Relief san Francisco a the american red Cross received $52.5 million in donations designated for earthquake Relief after the oct. 17 quake but the group plans to spend Only half that amount on the disaster a spokeswoman said. Mayor Art Agnos has criticized the disaster Relief organization for failing to disclose donation and spending information As Well As its spending plans. So far the red Cross has spent $12.1 million according to spokeswoman Barbara Lohman who said the total emergency spending will reach Between $13 million and $16 million. An additional $10 million was allocated in Decem Ber for extraordinary needs she said after elected officials and Community leaders appealed to the red Cross for additional Aid. The Northern California quake on oct. 17 measured 7.1 on the Richter scale killing 67 people injuring about 3,000 and causing an estimated $7 billion in damage. 2 acquitted on charges of illegal Export to Japan Helena. Mont. A two men were acquitted on charges of illegally exporting to Japan logs Cut from Federal land in what was believed to be the first Lime anyone had been tried for violating the Law. A Federal court jury tuesday acquitted log dealer John j. Tortorlli of Bill clue. Wash., and part time dealer Winston Bentley of Spokane wash., of All charges. Tortorlli and Bentley were accused of having the logs Federal markings sawed off because they knew they were for Export. Federal Law prohibits the Export of raw logs Cut from National forests. The logs must be processed in . Mills where prices Aie much less than foreign Mills. Tortorlli was accused of buying truckloads of logs Cut on Forest service land in Western Montana North Ern Idaho and Eastern Washington in 1987 and 1988, and then Selling them to japanese exporting companies on the West coast. By Nellcy a Church janitor helped inspect and handle some of the Timber at a processing Center in Mead wash., prosecutors said. Lawyers committee oks pro Choice Resolution los Angeles a the policy making body of the american ear association on tuesday approved a pro Choice Resolution opposing government interference with a woman s decision to have an abortion. It was the first time the Aba has taken a stand on abortion itself although the bar association has issued policy statements calling for uniformity in state Laws and on the right of funding for abortion a spokeswoman said supporters Defeated several parliamentary attempts to defer the Resolution which ultimately was approved by the Aba s House of delegates on a vote of 238-106, said Estelle Rogers chairwoman of the Aba s rights of women committee. Proponents of the Resolution were reacting in part to a supreme court decision last year that affirmed efforts by the state of Missouri to sharply curtail Abor Tion rights Rogers said