But it also showed European teens more likely than U.S. teens to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. The study, conducted by the Council of Europe and the University of Michigan, compared survey results of 109,000 10th graders in the United States and 30 European countries. And 23 percent of the American teens used other illegal drugs, such as Ecstasy, versus 6 percent of Europeans. Those numbers represent a declining or flat rate of drug use in United States, with the exception of Ecstasy use. Cigarette smoking rates were closer, with 37 percent of Europeans smoking at least one cigarette in the last month, compared with 26 percent of Americans.
Additional information is available in our issue guide on Illegal Drugs .