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Photo: Associated Press
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Teen use of drugs,
alcohol and tobacco significantly declines in 2016, report says
By Karen Farkas, cleveland.com
December 28, 2016
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco by teenagers
declined significantly in 2016 at rates that are the lowest since the
1990s, according to a new study.
And teens are lighting up less often when it comes to e-cigarettes and
hookahs, the report showed.
The annual Monitoring the Future study, now in its 42nd year, surveys
about 45,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12 in 380 public and private
schools each year. It is conducted by the University of Michigan's
Institute for Social Research and funded by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.
The proportion of students who used any illicit drug in the prior year
fell significantly between 2015 and 2016, the survey showed. This
year's improvements were particularly concentrated among 8th- and
10th-graders.
Considerably fewer teens reported using any illicit drug other than
marijuana in the prior 12 months -- 5 percent, 10 percent and 14
percent in grades 8, 10 and 12, respectively -- than at any time since
1991.
The overall percentage of teens using any illicit drugs, other than
marijuana, has been in a gradual, long-term decline since the last half
of the 1990s, when their peak rates reached 13 percent, 18 percent and
21 percent, respectively.
Following are other results of the survey. Not all grades were surveyed
for each question. The percentage reflects how many youths have used
the drug at least once in the past 12 months.
Vaping
The study found fewer teens vape now, the first significant reversal of
a rapid rise in adolescent vaping. The rate grew from near-zero levels
of use in 2011 to one of the most common forms of adolescent substance
use by 2015, researchers said.
From 2015 to 2016, the percentage of adolescents who vaped in the last
30 days declined:
8th graders: from 8 percent in 2015 to 6 percent in 2016
10th graders: from 14 percent to 11 percent
12th graders: from 16 percent to 13 percent
Marijuana
The most widely used of illicit drugs.
8th graders: 9.4 percent.
10th graders: 24 percent.
12th graders: 36 percent.
Prescription amphetamines
Prescription stimulants used without medical direction. Use in the past
12 months has fallen considerably.
8th graders: 3.5 percent.
10th graders: 6.1 percent.
12th graders: 6.7 percent.
Prescription narcotic drugs
The use of these drugs outside of medical supervision has been in
decline.
12th graders: 4.8 percent (compared to 9.5 percent in 2004).
Heroin
8th graders: 0.3 percent (compared to 1.6 percent in 1996).
12th graders: 0.3 percent (compared to 1.5 percent in 2000).
Ecstasy
Ecstasy is a form of MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), as is the
much newer form on the scene, called Molly. The use has generally been
declining among teens since about 2010 or 2011, and it continued to
decrease significantly in 2016.
8th graders: 1 percent.
10th graders: 2 percent.
12th graders: 3 percent.
Synthetic marijuana
The drug, often sold over the counter as "K-2" or "Spice", continued
its rapid decline in use among teens since its use was first measured
in 2011.
12th graders: 3.5 percent (11.4 percent in 2011).
Bath salts
Their annual prevalence has remained quite low -- at 1.3 percent or
less in all grades -- since they were first included in the study in
2012.
Alcohol
The use of alcohol by adolescents is more prevalent than marijuana, but
it, too, is trending downward. For all three grades, both annual and
monthly prevalence of alcohol use are at historic lows over the life of
the study.
Measures of heavy alcohol use are also down considerably, including
self-reports of having been drunk in the previous 30 days and of binge
drinking in the prior two weeks (defined as having five or more drinks
in a row on at least one occasion).
Binge drinking:
8th graders: 3 percent.
10th graders: 10 percent.
12th graders: 16 percent.
Report of 10 or more drinks in a row:
12th graders: 4.4 percent (13 percent in 2006).
Tobacco
Cigarette smoking among teens continued a decades-long decline in 2016
and reached the lowest levels recorded since annual tracking began 42
years ago.
Those who smoked in the past 30 days:
8th graders: 2.6 percent (3.6 percent in 2015).
10th graders: 4.9 percent (6.3 percent in 2015).
12th graders: 10.5 percent (11.4 percent in 2015).
Read this and other articles at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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