"At least 16 Gig Harbor-area students have been caught on two school campuses with marijuana over the last 10 days, a statistic that shows the popularity of the drug among teens, sheriff's officials say." (Marijuana arrests soar for students on Peninsula, The News Tribune, December 16, 1998)

"In Washington, more than one in four 10th and 12th-graders said they recently used marijuana, up about 8 percentage points from six years ago, according to a recent survey of 14,000 high school students." (State's Marijuana crop expanding, The Associated Press, November 27, 1998)

"But evidence is growing that many South Sound teen-agers are trading beer kegs and marijuana bongs for the dangerous, heart-pounding rush of meth.. ‘A lot of people do meth. Or at least try it,’ says North Thurston High School senior Tyronne Head. ‘It’s at every high school.’" (New teen drug a deadly one, The Olympian, July 19, 1998)

"The teacher had called the 15-year old boy into the hall to ask about the baggie, which the student had allegedly displayed in class. In the hall, according to prosecutors, the boy denied having marijuana with him. When he turned to leave and go back into the classroom however, the baggie accidentally dropped out and the teacher picked it up. The boy was charged with possession of marijuana." (Boy drops pot in front of high school teacher, The Journal of the San Juan Islands, July 1, 1998)

"He was found floating face-down in a calm section of Eagle Creek below a steep embankment, within 100 yards of where he had been with his friends. The depth of the water ranged from 18 inches to two feet. ...His friends told a Hood River County sheriff’s deputy they had been smoking marijuana, but results from toxicology tests won’t be available for three weeks, Gunson (Karen Gunson, Oregon State Deputy Medical Examiner) said. (Autopsy shows 17-year-old boy drowned in creek, The Columbian (Vancouver Washington), June 23, 1998)

Prescription-abusing teenagers, who detectives say are mostly white and middle-class, see themselves as sidestepping the expense, the stigma and the perceived dangers of illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. ...they see legal drugs as benign. ...drug counselors say Zanax and prescription pills will not unseat alcohol and marijuana as the drugs of choice among youth." (Image-conscious teenagers turn to prescription drugs, Seattle Times, March 8, 1998)

"As a parent, you may think heroin is too 'hard core' for your teen to try. However, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found a more than 50 percent increase of first-time heroin use in teens from 1994 to 1995." (Seductive New Heroin is Stalking Teenagers, Seattle Times, March 4, 1998)

"It's not only the 'bad kids' who are using drugs, like marijuana, as some people might believe.  In fact, some of the students are not teenagers at all.  Experts report that the use of marijuana by adolescents has doubled in the past  four years.  Now, the average age of first time users of marijuana is 12." (Drug use rising and changing among teens, Daily Sun News (Sunnyside), January 29, 1998)

"Seattle police arrested the student and another 18-year-old man after they were reported to be selling crack cocaine to students out of their car in the parking lot, a police sergeant said yesterday." (Stanford examining high school drug bust, Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 22, 1998)

"While marijuana and methamphetamines are the most common drugs found in South Kitsap schools, local teens are copping buzzes from such unconventional sources as oven cleaner and correction fluid. ... 'The thing about junior high kids is that they're willing to try anything...They think they're invincible at this age,' said Cedar Heights Principal Patricia Green.'" (Recognizing the tell-tale signs of drug abuse, Port Orchard Independent, January 17, 1998)