The availability of drugs at schools has increased over the last ten years although the overall use of illicit drugs has declined. Yet too many teenagers are still abusing drugs. In the National Institute on Drug Abuse 2005 Monitoring the Future survey researchers found that 50% of high school seniors report some use of an illicit drug during their life.
Drugs are easily obtained and teenagers know who they can contact to get them. The Bureau of Justice reports that 85% of teens say they know where to get marijuana and 55% know how to get amphetamines. Knowledge of drug availability is similar regardless of race or location. Students living in rural, suburban, and urban areas all reported similar levels of drug availability at about 35% overall. Even more frightening is that 29% of students say that someone has "offered, sold, or given them an illegal drug on school property."
Some officials believe that the percentages of actual drug abuse are low because of the number of teenagers that have dropped out or are truant are not represented in the survey. These teenagers often have a higher involvement with drugs than those still in school.
Alcohol is the most common substance used, with 75% of seniors having at least tried alcohol and 23% within the last month. Alcohol use is often glamorized in the media and teens try to imitate the behaviors they see.
Cigarettes are the next most common drugs abused by teenagers. Most teens assume they can quit smoking at will. Instead they often find themselves addicted. Few people start smoking after the teenage years.
Marijuana has been used by 44% of seniors. The NIDA reports that 60% of teens that do use drugs use marijuana. The most recent survey found that fewer eighth graders today see a risk in smoking marijuana than in the past.
Inhalants are the most commonly abused illegal drug among those in middle school with 17.1% of eight graders having tried them. Inhalants are cheap and easily purchased. Most of them are common household substances like paint thinners, glues, spray paint, whipped cream dispensers, hair sprays and other substances.
Prescription Drug use among teenagers has been rising at a rate of 25% per year since 2001. Most teens take prescription drugs because of personal or family-related stress.
Many teenagers are getting the message through school, parents, and the media that drugs are harmful. But many are still not receiving or are choosing to ignore the message. The best way to combat teenage drug abuse is by education that means consistently talking about drugs both formally and informally.
Cigarette smoking among teenagers has dropped in 2007 based on a survey conducted by the University of Michigan. Cigarette smoking rates had actually been dropping since the mid-'90s. According to Lloyd Johnston, a research scientist at the said university, the drop in smoking prevalence among the youth would significantly reduce the number of cases of illnesses and premature deaths due to cigarette use.
On its 33rd year, the Monitoring the Future survey was given in 2007 to almost 50,000 students in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades in 403 different schools across the country. The university-led research was done on behalf of the US Federal Government. The percentage of 8th-graders that reported being daily smokers dropped to 3 percent, down nearly 1 percentage point from last year. Among the tenth graders, 7.2 percent was reported as daily smokers, down for about half a percentage point from last year. And among the 12th graders, 12.3 percent reported being daily smokers, which is nearly the same as last year. The researchers do not know exactly why the decline in cigarette smoking resumed this year, but they say that it is an important development, and that smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the country, according to Johnston.
All in all, drug use and alcohol use has declined slightly in all three grades of teenagers last year, continuing a long term downward trend that, like the decrease in cigarette smoking, also began in the mid-1990s. The proportion of eighth-graders reporting they had used an illicit drug during the previous 12 months prior to taking the survey was 13 percent in 2007, down from a peak of 24 percent in 1996. Among 10th graders, 28 percent reported having used an illicit drug, down from a peak of 39 percent in 1997. Among 12th-graders, 36 percent reported used an illicit drug, down from a peak of 42 percent in 1997.
President Bush has made plans by pointing to his administration's commitment in 2002 to reduce the use of drugs among young adults by 25 percent in five years. According to him, the strategy is to cut the supply of drugs that enters the country and fight the demand for drugs by use of prevention and treatment programs. Marijuana is still the most widely used drug, though its use has dropped among 8th graders. The use of amphetamines and the prescription drug Ritalin also continued to drop somewhat, while the use of drugs such as cocaine has held steady. According to Liz Margolis, a school district spokeswoman, cigarette use is definitely below the average but there is still reason to be concerned about alcohol and drug use which is currently being addressed at the high school level in various ways.
If cigarette consumption among the youth is not stemmed, it could lead to a disastrous economic and social disaster. Just imagine the state of health of America's future workforce and source of national leadership.
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