by Donna E. Shalala

About the author: Donna E. Shalala is the secretary of Health and Human Services.

At the release of the past two Monitoring the Future surveys [in 1993 and 1994], we have sounded alarm bells about rising levels of substance abuse by American teenagers.

A Renewed Alarm

Today, I want to ring that alarm bell faster and louder and send a message to every parent in this country: Your children are at risk. We have a generation at risk.

The Monitoring the Future survey shows that over the last year [1994–95], teenage tobacco and drug use continued to climb, and alcohol use—while level—remains unacceptably high.

Let me be clear: Use levels have not returned to the peak levels of the 1970s and 1980s, but the trends for marijuana and cigarette...