Good News, Bad News on Teen Drug Use

(December 16, 2009) - The latest report on teen drug use is a mixed bag. There is some good news - cigarette smoking and methamphetamine use are down - but the use of marijuana isn't dropping and the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs is up. (Read about "Talking About Drug Abuse")

Methamphetamine use among teens appears to have dropped significantly in recent years, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA) annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. However, declines in marijuana use have stalled, and prescription drug abuse remains high, the survey reported.

The number of high school seniors reporting they used methamphetamine in the past year is now at only 1.2 percent - the lowest since questions about methamphetamine were added to the survey in 1999, when it was reported at 4.7 percent. In addition, the proportion of 10th graders reporting that crystal meth was easy to obtain has dropped to 14 percent, down from 19.5 percent five years ago.

The report says cigarette smoking was at the lowest point in the survey's history on all measures for eighth, 10th and 12th graders. For example, only 2.7 percent of eighth graders describe themselves as daily smokers, down from a peak rate of 10.4 percent in 1996. Similarly, 11.2 percent of high school seniors say they smoke daily, less than half of the 24.6 percent rate in 1997. However, one area of concern is the rate of smokeless tobacco use. The rate of 10th graders using smokeless tobacco in the past month is 6.5 percent, up from last year and the same as it was in 1999.

Marijuana use across the three grades has shown a consistent downward trend since the mid-1990s, however, the decline has stalled, with rates at the same level as five years ago. In the 2009 survey, reported past year marijuana use was about the same as the previous year: 32.8 percent of 12th graders, 26.7 percent of 10th graders, and 11.8 percent of eighth graders. However, marijuana use is still down significantly from its peak in the mid-late 1990s.

The 2009 MTF survey indicates a continuing high rate of non-medical use of prescription drugs and cough syrup among teens. Seven of the top 10 drugs abused by 12th graders in the year prior to the survey were prescribed or, purchased over the counter.

Nearly 1 in 10 high school seniors reported past year non-medical use of Vicodin, and 1 in 20 reported abusing Oxycontin, also a powerful opioid painkiller. Non-medical use of these painkillers has increased among 10th graders in the past five years.

For the first time this year the survey measured the non-medical use of Adderall, a stimulant commonly prescribed to treat ADHD. The survey reported that more than 5 percent of 10th and 12th graders reported non-medical use of the drug in the past year.

In addition, the survey recently started measuring how teens obtain the prescription drugs they took for non-medical use. Nineteen percent of 12th graders reported they got their drugs by a doctor's prescription, and 8 percent reported buying them from a dealer. However, the vast majority - 66 percent - said they got the drugs from a friend or relative. Of these, 12 percent reported they "took" them; 21 percent reported "buying" them and 33 percent said they were "given" the drugs. Internet purchases do not appear to be a major source of drugs for this age group.