Or is it something else?

"Teen use of marijuana, cocaine, and other illicit drugs was down 9 percent in 2004, according to the U.S. government. "

Teen cigarette smoking also fell. But underage drinking didn�t improve, according to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Trends for young adults (aged 18-25) included a continued drop in tobacco use and a rise in nonmedical use of some pain relievers for young adults.

The report comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Numbers are based on a survey of about 70,000 people.

Illicit Drugs

Nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population aged 12 and older had used illicit drugs in the past month. That�s about 19 million people.

The numbers were similar in 2002 and 2003, except among teens.

Teen illicit drug use dropped about 9 percent from 2003. About one in 10 youths aged 12-17 used illicit drugs in 2004. That�s down from 11.2 percent in 2003 and 11.6 percent in 2002. In that age group, marijuana use fell among boys to about 8 percent but stayed steady for girls (about 7 percent).

Marijuana was America�s most commonly used illicit drug. More than 14 million people had used marijuana in the month before the survey (current users).

Other drugs included:

�Cocaine: 2 million current users (467,000 used crack cocaine)

�Hallucinogens: 929,000 current users

�Heroin: about 166,000 current users

Ecstasy had about 450,000 current users. That�s similar to the number for 2003 but down from 2002, the survey shows.