« Single Parent Dynamic Changing | Main | Lead Poisoning Info »
Teens and Drugs
By admin | December 12, 2007
This survey, done by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, examined the behavior of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders nationwide. The study, in its 33rd year, found that overall drug use is falling, mainly due to a drop in the popularity of marijuana and methamphetamines. But it also found that teen use of other drugs, such as cocaine, is holding steady, and narcotics like OxyContin and Vicodin remain in vogue.
Overall, the proportion of eighth-graders reporting use of an illicit drug at least once in the 12 months before the survey was 24 percent in 1996. It now has fallen to 13 percent — a drop of nearly half. Among 10th-graders, the rates dropped from 39 percent to 28 percent between 1997 and 2007. Twelfth-graders saw a decline from a peak of 42 percent in 1997 to 36 percent this year.
The drugs most responsible for this year’s decline in illicit drug use are marijuana and various stimulants, including amphetamines, methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine. At least one in every 20 high school seniors has at least tried OxyContin, a powerful narcotic drug, in the past year, the study said. The popularity of the painkiller Vicodin also remained constant. The percentage of students using Vicodin was 2.7 percent, 7.2 percent and 9.6 percent in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, respectively.
While the use of most illicit drugs has shown declines in the past decade or so, most prescription psychotherapeutic drugs did not. A number of them showed steady increases in use outside of their legitimate medical purpose. These include sedatives, tranquilizers and narcotic drugs other than heroin.
The study also reported an increase in the use of ecstasy. Ecstasy use among teens dropped dramatically in the early 2000s, as concern about the consequences of use grew. However, the proportion of students seeing great risk in using this drug has been in decline for the past two or three years at all three grade levels, and use has begun to increase, at least in the upper grades.
Topics: Kids Health, Teen Health, Parents Health, Stress of Parenting, Joys of Parenting, Parenting Advice, Kids, Kids, Kids, Parenting News |