Sobering times for teens.

• Author: Butterfield, Fox
• Position: Society

For the first time, teenage smoking, drinking, and illegal drug use all fell last year, according to a survey conducted for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The survey also found a drop in the use of Ecstasy, the dub drug, after several recent years in which the drug had exploded in popularity among teens. "The fact that there are such broad declines in all forms of substance abuse is very encouraging," says Lloyd Johnston, a University of Michigan psychologist who led the study.

No one knows why the declines showed up simultaneously in every category. Some experts speculate that the sobering effect of the Sept. 11...