Michelle Miller-Day

Minority teens' views of drug use differ from reality

Most young Black adolescents appear to believe that their Black peers use drugs more than White or Hispanic teens, when in reality studies show that fewer Black youth use alcohol or other drugs than do youth of other ethnic groups, a Penn State researcher says. "Of all Blacks surveyed in our study, almost two out of three perceived that Black adolescents take more drugs than White or Hispanic young people," says Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, associate professor of communication arts and sciences. Of the Black teens who reported using alcohol or other drugs, 100 percent believed that Black adolescents used more drugs than Whites and Hispanics in the same age group.