Eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students across the country are continuing to show a gradual decline in the proportions reporting use of illicit drugs, according to the 33rd national survey in the Monitoring the Future series conducted by scientists at the Institute for Social Research (ISR).
“The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are quite substantial, especially among the youngest students,” says Distinguished Research Scientist Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the study.
The proportion of eighth-graders reporting use of an illicit drug at least once in the 12 months prior to the survey (called annual prevalence) was 24 percent in 1996 but has fallen to 13 percent by 2007, a drop of nearly half. The decline has been less among 10th-graders, from 39 percent to 28 percent between 1997 and 2007, and least among 12th-graders, a decline from the recent peak of 42 percent in 1997 to 36 percent this year.
All three grades showed continual declines this year in the annual prevalence of illicit drug use, though only the one-year decline in eighth grade (a drop of 1.6 percentage points) achieved statistical significance. The rates for the three grades now stand at 13 percent, 28 percent and 36 percent.
Drugs declining in use
The drugs most responsible for this year’s modest decline in illicit drug use are marijuana and various stimulant drugs, including amphetamines, Ritalin (a specific amphetamine), methamphetamine, and crystal methamphetamine.
Amphetamine use reached its peak in the mid-1990s among eighth- and 10th-graders. Since then, annual prevalence has fallen by more than one half among eighth-graders to 4 percent and by one-third among 10th-graders to 8 percent in 2007. Amphetamine use peaked somewhat later among 12th-graders, and has fallen by about one-third to 8 percent in 2007.
Annual prevalence for the three grades combined fell significantly this year for both Ritalin and methamphetamine. Ritalin is a prescription amphetamine drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Its use outside of medical supervision first was measured in the 2001 study; it has been falling since, with total declines of between 25 percent and 42 percent at each grade level. Today 2-4 percent of students in these grades have abused Ritalin at least once in the prior 12 months.
Marijuana still remains the most widely used of all of the illicit drugs. The decline in 2007 in the annual prevalence of marijuana use among eighth-graders fell from 11.7 percent in 2006 to 10.3 percent in 2007. Tenth-graders showed a modest continuing decline in marijuana use, which was not statistically significant, while 12th-graders showed no further change this year after a decline in 2006.
Drugs holding steady
A number of illicit drugs showed little change this year. Many of them are at rates well below their recent peak levels of use, however. These include cocaine, crack cocaine, LSD, hallucinogens other than LSD, heroin and most of the prescription-type psychoactive drugs used outside of medical supervision, including sedatives, tranquilizers, narcotics other than heroin, OxyContin specifically, and Vicodin specifically. (Both OxyContin and Vicodin are narcotic drugs.)
The one stimulant drug that did not show a decline was cocaine. Cocaine use reached a peak among teens in the late 1990s, declined for a year or two, and has held relatively level in recent years. Today annual prevalence ranges between 2 percent and 5 percent in grades eight, 10 and 12.
Crack use previously declined slightly in all three grades, but showed no further decline this year. Annual prevalence now ranges between 1.3 percent and 1.9 percent across the three grades, down by between a quarter and one-half from the peak.
Drugs increasing in use
The only drug showing signs of an increase in use is MDMA (ecstasy). Ecstasy use among teens plummeted in the early 2000s, as concern about its consequences grew. The proportion of students seeing great risk in using this drug has been in decline for the past two or three years at all three grade levels, however, and use has begun to increase, at least in the upper grades.
Among 10th-graders, annual prevalence has risen from a recent low of 2.4 percent in 2004 to 3.5 percent in 2007, while in 12th grade it has risen from a recent low of 3 percent in 2005 to 4.5 percent in 2007. While none of the one-year increases were statistically significant for 2007, a clear pattern of gradually rising use is discernible in the upper grades and their cumulative increases over the past couple of years are statistically significant.
Trends in alcohol use
Alcohol use by teens has declined since the mid-1990s. The 30-day prevalence of alcohol use (reporting drinking an alcoholic beverage at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey) has fallen by 40 percent among eighth-graders since their peak level in 1996.
The proportional declines since recent peak rates are smaller for the older students, however, about a one-fifth decline for 10th-graders and about one-sixth for 12th-graders. All three grades showed small declines in use this year — none reaching statistical significance. Thirty-day prevalence of alcohol use now stands at 16 percent, 33 percent and 44 percent for grades eight, 10 and 12.
To read the complete report go to www.monitoringthefuture.org.
