Drug Use by U.S. Teens Drops to All-Time Low

Drug Use by U.S. Teenagers Drops to All-Time Low

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 13, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- Drug use amongst U.S. teenagers is at an all-time low.

That is the heartening discovering from a brand new survey by the U.S. Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Fewer teenagers are utilizing unlawful medicine than ever earlier than, the survey discovered, and fewer are falling prey to the epidemic of prescription drug abuse plaguing many adults in america.

Many teenagers even have turned away from consuming alcohol and smoking tobacco, stated NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow.

"There are important decreases within the patterns of drug consumption amongst youngsters in our nation," Volkow stated. "Fairly important, to the purpose the place we've got a number of medicine on the lowest ranges that we have ever seen for the reason that inception of the survey."

The outcomes come from the 2016 Monitoring the Future survey, an annual research of behaviors and selections amongst teenagers within the eighth, 10th and 12th grades.

This 12 months's survey discovered that:

• Use of illicit medicine apart from marijuana is at its lowest degree within the historical past of the survey for all three grades. For instance, 14 % of 12th graders stated they used a bootleg drug, in comparison with 18 % in 2013.
• Teen use of prescription ache killers is trending downward amongst 12th graders, with a 45 % drop in previous 12 months use in comparison with 5 years in the past. For instance, almost three % of highschool seniors misused the opioid ache reliever Vicodin (acetaminophen/hydrocodone) in 2016, in comparison with almost 10 % a decade in the past.
• Solely 5 % of highschool seniors stated they smoke cigarettes day by day, in comparison with 22 % twenty years in the past. For 10th graders, the 2016 day by day smoking fee is 2 %, in comparison with 18 % in 1996.
• About 56 % of 12th graders drank alcohol up to now 12 months, in comparison with a peak of about 75 % in 1997. Youthful teenagers additionally adopted this development -- 38 % of 10th graders and almost 18 % of eighth graders reported previous 12 months use, in comparison with peaks of 65 % in 2000 for 10th graders and 47 % in 1994 amongst eighth graders.

Outcomes concerning marijuana have been extra blended.

Use throughout the previous month amongst eighth graders dropped considerably, down to five % in 2016 in contrast with 6.5 % in 2015. Each day use additionally declined amongst eighth graders, to zero.7 % in contrast with 1.1 % the 12 months earlier than.

Nevertheless, older teenagers continued to make use of marijuana at about the identical fee. For instance, 22.5 % of highschool seniors reported utilizing pot throughout the previous month, and 6 % reported day by day use -- roughly the identical as final 12 months.

Volkow stated the marijuana outcomes are encouraging, given the wave of marijuana legalization throughout america.

"Due to that, we have been considerably involved that the sample of marijuana use would go up amongst youngsters," Volkow stated.

Marcia Lee Taylor, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Children, stated the outcomes present that "we have to control marijuana," as legalization efforts cut back the notion of threat concerning pot.

"A 6 % day by day use fee is extremely excessive," Taylor stated, citing the statistic for 12th graders. "That's extremely troubling. It is good that it did not go up, but it surely's nonetheless unacceptably excessive."

Nobody is bound what's inflicting this general decline in drug use amongst teenagers, however there are just a few main theories, Volkow stated.

Elevated use of social media could possibly be enjoying a task in decreasing peer strain to strive medicine, she stated. A teen socializing remotely cannot bodily provide one other child medicine.

Video video games additionally is likely to be offering an adrenaline-pumping various to medicine. Nevertheless, researchers are involved that these video games are creating compulsive patterns that quantity to swapping one unhealthy dependancy for one more, Volkow stated.

Lastly, the profitable marketing campaign towards teen smoking is likely to be paying unintended advantages as these youngsters get older, Volkow stated.

Analysis has proven that early publicity to nicotine primes the mind to be rewarded when teenagers experiment with different medicine, she stated. People who smoke are more likely to develop into hooked on unlawful medicine or alcohol after making an attempt them, she added.

"There's proof rising that nicotine is usually a gateway drug," Volkow stated. "Early publicity to nicotine primes the mind to the rewarding results of different medicine. As smoking in our nation has gone down, that will have served to stop the rewarding results of different medicine."

Sadly, e-cigarettes may counter these advantages. The survey discovered that just one in 4 12th graders assume e-cigarettes comprise nicotine, with 63 % claiming they comprise "simply flavoring."

One initiative is understood to have an actual impact on teen substance abuse -- multi-pronged and aggressive public campaigns aimed toward teenagers, comparable to those which have led to traditionally low use of tobacco and alcohol, Volkow stated.

Sadly, funding for these campaigns is just not strong. Taylor cited the "Above the Affect" marketing campaign, a cooperative venture between her group and the Workplace of Nationwide Drug Management Coverage.

"That marketing campaign was defunded by the federal authorities," Taylor stated. "Teenagers don't get that counter message anymore. I feel it is vital they perceive [drugs aren't] a innocent substance, significantly for a growing mind."

Copyright © 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

SOURCES: Nora Volkow, M.D., director, U.S. Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse; Marcia Lee Taylor, president and CEO, Partnership for Drug-Free Children; 2016 Monitoring the Future Survey