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LATIN AMERICA |
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Drug Use Among Argentine Teenagers Up 62
Percent
BUENOS AIRES – Consumption of illegal drugs
by Argentine adolescents has grown 62
percent over the past decade, La Nacion
newspaper reported Thursday, citing surveys
of high school students carried out by the
Higher Institute of Health Sciences.
The proportion of students admitting to
illegal drug use rose from 8.9 percent in
1999 to 14.6 percent this year, the daily
said.
While teens’ alcohol consumption also rose –
by 26 percent – during the last 10 years,
cigarette smoking fell 7 percent, according
to the institute, which surveyed 2,752 high
school students in Buenos Aires province.
Among respondents who said they used illegal
substances, 96 percent identified marijuana
as their drug of choice.
Nearly 52 percent of the students surveyed
said illegal drugs are easy to come by.
President Cristina Fernandez’s government
last year created an advisory committee
comprising judges, prosecutors, sociologists
and other experts to help draft a law
decriminalizing possession of drugs in small
amounts for personal use.
In late August, the Argentine Supreme Court
overturned the convictions of five people
for possession of marijuana joints and
declared criminal penalties for simple
possession to be unconstitutional. EFE
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