Substance Abuse Fact Sheet

The leading surveys indicate a serious drug problem among today’s youth. Though trends of illicit drug use have leveled off in the last ten years, efforts to prevent substance abuse are still imperative. Successes such as the recent decline in youth tobacco use are important milestones for the prevention community.

• By the time a youth graduates from the 12th grade, there is a fifty percent chance that he or she has tried an illicit substance at least once.
• Adolescents who use alcohol and drugs are more likely to be victims or perpetrators of violence, engage in unplanned and unprotected sex, experience school failure, or be seriously injured from driving while impaired.
• Adolescents who use alcohol or illegal drugs are more likely to be at risk for suicide.
• Students who drink alcohol during adolescence have a reduced ability to learn, compared withthose youth who do not drink until adulthood. (Age-Dependent Inhibition Study)
• Alcohol and drug use are associated with poor academic performance, impaired development,mental health issues, and many other problems that affect youth.
• Recent findings regarding adolescent drug and alcohol use reveal that: 1) marijuana remains the most widely used illicit drug; 2) the illegal use of alcohol by minors is common; and 3) the use of drugs such as Ecstasy and steroids are rising. (2001 Monitoring the Future)

• According to the 2001 Study, at least half of all youth have at least tried illicit drugs, alcohol, or tobacco by the time they finish high school.
• Six of ten 12th grade students report having been drunk at least once in their lifetime.
• One out of every four graduating high school seniors uses an illicit substance on a current or pastmonth basis. One in five use marijuana regularly.
• More than one quarter of 8th graders has used an illicit drug in their lifetime; about half of 10th graders and 12th grades have done so.
• Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among all three grades, 9.2% of 8th graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 22.4% of 12th graders are current users.
• MDMA (ecstasy) has been one of the most rapidly rising drugs of abuse among youth in recent years – lifetime use among 12th graders doubled from 1998 to 2001.
• Unlike other drugs, inhalants are more frequently used by the youngest students, 4.0% percent of 8th graders are current users of inhalants, compared with 2.4% of 10th graders and 1.7% of 12th graders.