Study finds overall teen drug use down

An annual survey released by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at IU found that overall drug use is down in Indiana adolescents, but marijuana use is on the rise.

The 19th Annual Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use by Indiana Children and Adolescents was published in August and shows the yearly trends in drug abuse by sixth to 12th graders in 557 schools across the state.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction also funded the survey.

The survey asked adolescents about 22 different drugs and methods of use ranging from tobacco to crack cocaine, to inhalants and prescription medications.

One addition to the survey this year was a section on the use of different drugs teens administer with syringes, a very dangerous method because it can easily result in an overdose, according to the survey.

Also, users rarely clean needles, spreading diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.

Mi Kyung Jun, a research associate who worked on the survey, said the survey is done yearly so the individual school corporations can use the information. There have been many changes since the survey started in 1991.

“When we started we also surveyed fifth graders, but as time grew on their drug use fell significantly,” Jun said. “Also, we’ve had to add more drugs to list. We are constantly changing the survey to match trends."

The school corporations administer the survey to their students, and they also receive findings tailored to their results, in addition to how they compare with the rest of the state in terms of drug use.

If their schools have favorable results, they are eligible for the Safe and Drug Free School Grant, which provides extra funding for schools.

Notable in this survey is the apparent rise in marijuana use.

The reason for the fall in all other drugs and the rise in marijuana use is unknown.
“We do not ask why,” Jun said. “We just monitor the use. We can say that this is very odd. They may think it is less harmful alternative to other drugs.”

Some students are glad that the use of hard drugs is dropping, even if the use of marijuana is up.

“I think it’s better that harder drugs with worse effects are used less than other less harmful drugs,” said IU senior Branden Moore, adding that he still does not approve of the increase in drug use.

Jun said that while there was a rise this year in marijuana use, the results should be watched for a couple more years in order to establish an actual trend in drug use.

“If drug use is high for a school, we strongly recommend they do something,” Jun said.