A new study of nearly 600 teens in drug rehab found that 20 percent say they used to do drugs with one or both parents. 
The Phoenix House group of drug rehabilitation centers commissioned the survey after coming into contact with a number of patients who said they had used drugs with their parents. 
In an interview with CBSNews.com, Phoenix House spokesman Peter Kerr says of the almost 600 teenagers who participated in the study, about 5 percent said their first taste of drugs came from a parent, and most often, that drug was marijuana. 
Of the teens who got high with their parents, 76 percent used marijuana; 19 percent used crack; 16 percent used other forms of cocaine; and 6 percent used heroin. 
"In 1965, the widespread use of illicit drugs began in America," says Kerr, who acknowledges that illegal drug use was also seen in earlier times, although not on such a large scale. 
"For the most part (in the 1960s,) it was young people who were experimenting and parents and grandparents knew nothing about it," says Kerr, contrasting that with the new survey showing that kids are getting high with their parents and sometimes even their grandparents. 
"Some think back to the days (of their own drug use) as harmless or manageable," explains Kerr. He says some parents appear to view teenage drug use as just another "rite of passage," telling themselves: "I was okay, they'll be okay." 
That thinking, according to Kerr, often walks hand in hand with the rationale that, "I'd rather have them doing it at home, than out there in the street." 
There are more than a few flaws in that logic, according to Kerr, who points out that today's drugs are actually different from the substances passed around in the 1970s and in some cases, even later. 
"Heroin, which New York City police records show being at 6 percent purity in 1993, is today 65 percent pure," says Kerr, adding that the drug is also cheaper and widely available in many areas. 
Kerr says today's marijuana also packs a stronger punch, having been bred over the years to produce higher levels of THC, marijuana's active ingredient, than was the case in the 1970s. 
Kerr stresses another factor parents should remember, namely, that "drugs never harmed people with equality and fairness" and "just because you smoked a little dope," doesn't mean you have any "idea what's going to happen to your child." 
"In a group of 100 teenagers who are offered a joint, cocaine, or heroin, for example," says Kerr, "most are not going to be killed or have their lives ruined by this one event. A certain percentage will be, depending on the drug and their personal predisposition...of genetic, psychological and environmental factors." 
When it comes to teens and drug use, says Kerr, the bottom line is "they are looking up to Mommy and Daddy for good judgment." 
Other findings of the Phoenix House study include: 19 percent of teens were introduced to drug use by family members: 9 percent by siblings; 5 percent by parents; 4 percent by uncles, aunts or cousins; and 1 percent by spouses. Fewer than 1 percent were introduced to drugs by a professional drug dealer. Of all teens surveyed, 22 percent of whites reported doing drugs with parents; 22 percent of Hispanics reported doing drugs with their parents; and 18 percent of blacks reported doing drugs with their parents. 22 percent of teens living in urban areas reported doing drugs with their parents, compared to 17 percent of teens living in the suburbs. The Phoenix House survey is the latest in a body of research documenting parents' influence on their children's decisions on whether or not to use drugs. 
A Partnership for a Drug-Free America study last year found that an increasing number of parents are talking to their children about the specific risks of illegal drugs, and doing so more thoroughly and more often than in previous years. That study, of over 6,500 teenagers, concluded that parents' anti-drug messages appear to be having an impact, with teen drug use leveling off or declining and fewer teenagers believing that drug use is "cool." 
By Francie Grace ?2000, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved.