Mike Males

In the following viewpoint, Mike Males challenges reports that drug use by American adolescents has increased. Males insists that, contrary to the claims of government officials and the media, drug use among teenagers is lower today than it was in the early 1970s; moreover, Males asserts, teens make up an extremely small proportion of those who die from drug abuse. Rather than exaggerating the problem of drug abuse among young people, according to Males, policy makers should focus on the more serious problem of adult drug abuse. Males is the author of The Scapegoat Generation:America’s War on Adolescents.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What evidence does Males cite to support his view that the war on drugs is failing?
2. Why do officials avoid discussing the worsening problem of adult...