Adolescents are giving birth less but using drugs more, according to a new report compiling a raft of studies and statistics relate to teen health. For the second straight year, the adolescent birthrate dropped. Out of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17, a little more than 20 gave birth in 2009, down from 21.7 per 1,000 in 2008. “It is reassuring to see continued declines in preterm birth rate and adolescent birth rate,” said Dr. Alan Guttmacher, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. There was more good news. Teen deaths due to injury were also down, from 48 per 100,000 youth ages 15 to 19 in 2008 to 39 per 100,000 in 2009. While scientists were cautious about pinning these decreases to any one factor, it appears as though teens may simply be making wiser decisions. Results weren’t so encouraging when it came to drug use. According to the report, 10 percent of eighth graders in 2010 had used illegal drugs within the last month, up from 8 percent who admitted to doing so in 2009. (CNN)