A new study by the Vermont Department of Health finds that 49 percent of 18-to-25-year-olds report they engaged in binge drinking within a month of being surveyed.
More than a quarter of the same group reported using marijuana. And in all age categories, Vermont exceeded national averages for marijuana use.
Health Commissioner Sharon Moffat released the report, "The Health Status of Vermonters," at what she called the half-way mark toward a series of goals the department has set for the state by 2010.
Vermont is slightly below the national figure for cigarette smoking, with 20 percent of residents smoking, versus 22 percent nationally. But Moffat says smoking rates remain very high for low-income Vermonters and the mentally ill.