NEW YORK, Oct 05 (Reuters Health) - The number of new teenage smokers in the US dropped by about one-third between 1997 and 1999, according to findings from a federal survey released Thursday.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an annual check on drug, alcohol and tobacco use in the US, found that the number of teens who took up smoking fell from a record high of nearly 3,200 kids per day in 1997 to about 2,100 in 1999.

"This change reflects years of public and private sector anti-tobacco efforts and will pay off in terms of millions of lives spared from the ravages of cigarette smoking," Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a statement releasing the findings.

Regular tobacco use also declined among teens and young adults, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the HHS agency that directs the annual survey. Among teens aged 12 to 17, just over 13% said they had smoked in the past month in 2000, compared with 15% in 1999. For adults aged 18 to 25, about 38% reported recent smoking in 2000, down from almost 40% in 1999.

But for teens who do smoke, getting cigarettes still appears to be easy. A substantial number--nearly 34%--said they were able to buy cigarettes from store clerks. Two-thirds said a friend or relative had bought them cigarettes in the past month.

As for drugs and alcohol, teen use remained steady. Among youths aged 12 to 17, 9.7% said they had used an illegal drug in the past month in 2000. The rate for 1999 was 9.8%.

Drug use was less common, however, among teens who believed their "parents would strongly disapprove if they tried marijuana once or twice." About 7% of these teens reported using an illicit drug in the previous month. Among teens who believed that their parents did not strongly disapprove of marijuana use, 31% reported using drugs in the past month.

"These findings offer hope that more and more young people are making the decision not to do drugs," Thompson said. "It is clear, parents have a key role in their child's decisions."

Rates of drinking remained largely unchanged among both teens and adults, the findings show. Among people aged 12 to 20, 27.5% said they had consumed alcohol in the past month in 2000.

The findings are based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of more than 71,000 people aged 12 and older.

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