Study: Nearly half of all Mass. teens have tried alcohol

BOSTON—A new survey has found that the number of Massachusetts high schools students using drugs and alcohol dropped for the sixth year in a row.

But the 2007 Health and Risk Behaviors of Massachusetts Youth study also found that nearly half of all teens drink, a quarter use marijuana and nearly one-fifth smoke cigarettes.

The report was released jointly Wednesday by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Public Health.

Among high school students, 73 percent said they had at least one alcoholic drink in their lifetime, down from 81 percent in 2001. The number of those who had ever tried smoking was down to 46 percent last year, from 62 percent in 2001.

The study also found that 34 percent of eighth grade students had tried alcohol.