Looking For Info About Teen Drug Abuse Statistics?NIDA administers the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey annually in order to collect data for the previous month, year, and overall lifetime of the student. They survey students that are in grades 8, 10, and 12. These teen drug abuse statistics are create positive and negative trend graphs for marijuana, methamphetamine, sedatives (or barbiturates), inhalants, crack cocaine, anabolic steroids, prescription drugs, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin (and opiates), and even nicotine and alcohol. The overall teen drug abuse statistics for 2006-2007 show that drug abuse trends, for the most part, either decreased or stabilized during the period. The positive trends included marijuana, methamphetamine, sedatives, inhalants, crack cocaine, and anabolic steroids. Marijuana- In 2006, 11.7% of 8th graders had either tried or used marijuana, but in the 2006 statistics the percentage decreased to 10.3%. Breaking down the statistic, marijuana use has decreased 33 percent among 8th graders, 25 percent among 10th graders, and 14% among 12th graders. Methamphetamine- Looking at the past year statistics, use of methamphetamine declined from 2006 to 2007. In the teen drug abuse statistics, methamphetamine use was 1.1% among 8th graders between 2006 to 2007, 1.6% among 10th graders, and 1.7% among 12th graders. Sedatives- Sedative use was only asked of 12th graders, and the results showed that among this age, the lifetime and past year statistics both declined. In 2007, about 6.2% of 12th graders use or had tried sedatives, or barbiturates. Inhalants- The statistics show that between year 2006 and 2007 there were no significant changes in the proportion of students who have tried or used inhalants. Crack Cocaine- Among 10th graders, the past month statistic decreased from 0.7 percent in 2006 to 0.5 percent in 2007, and the past month statistic for 12th graders decreased from 2.4% in 2006 to 1.7% in 2007. The 8th and 12th grade teen drug abuse statistics for 2007 declined about 29.6% and 58.0% when compared with the 2001 peak statistic. Anabolic Steroids- Generally, the use of steroids for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders remained pretty stable between 2006 and 2007. The negative trends included the use of prescription drugs, ecstasy, hallucinogens, and heroin. Prescription Drugs- There was virtually no drop in the use of prescription pills between 2006 and 2007 for any of the three grade levels, leaving the statistic pretty high. The survey reported that about 15.4% of 12th graders used prescription pills for non-medical purposes within the last year. Ecstasy- Generally speaking, the results of the survey reported that the attitudes of the students toward ecstasy (or MDMA) weakened, meaning they do not see as big of a risk by using the drug, but as did the health risks and harmful effects. The actual use of MDMA increased among 10th graders from 2.4% in 2004 to 3.5% in 2007, and among 12th graders the percent increased from 3.0% in 2005 to 4.5% in 2007. Hallucinogens- Although the disapproval of using hallucinogens and the perceived harm caused by using the drug, has decreased among the three grades, the use percent has stayed relatively the same between 2006 and 2007. Heroin- The overall use of injecting heroin increased 0.1% among 8th graders and 0.4% among 12th graders. OxyContin use was also reported to have increased for all three grades- 1.8% in 8th graders, 3.9% in 10th graders, and 5.2% in 12th graders. These teen drug abuse statistics report the use of drug use, disapproval of others who use, perceived availability of drugs, and their perceived risks of harm when using drugs and other harmful substances. |