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What is very exciting about the results from the 2007 Monitoring the Future survey is
that it showed significant decline in the use of both illicit substances and smoking
among 8th graders and this is the youngest group of kids that are evaluated as part of
the survey done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to determine the rate of abuse
of substances in this country. And it shows a significant decline from 2006 in cigarette
smoking– from 4 to 3 percent, which is actually significantly lower than it was in its peak
in 1996, when it was 10%. This has major implications because we know we can
predict, if these trends are maintained, a significant drop in the morbidity and mortality
of these kids as they grow into adulthood. At the same time, because cigarette smoking
is, in general, the first drug that kids will use– and it predicts subsequent use of illicit
substances– this may also predict that these kids– if they maintain these low rates of
smoking– will end up being at lower risk of abusing illicit substances.
In parallel, in the 8th graders, we're also seeing a decline in the prevalence of illicit
substance abuse. So again, because this is that stage in their lives when they are
particularly vulnerable for drug experimentation, and for the adverse effects of repeated
drug exposure, this is very good news because it decreases the likelihood that they will
become problematic drug users later on in life.
Nonetheless there is something that continues to be of worry, which is the high rate of
prescription drug abuse by high school teenagers. And we have seen over the past 3 or
4 years that numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 more frequently abused substances are actually
prescription medications, which are these types of drugs. The one that is most
frequently abused in this type of drug is Vicodin, which is a pain killer, and
approximately close to 10% of 12th graders have abused Vicodin for nonmedical
purposes. This year, we have actually estimated the percentage of utilization for all
categories of prescription medications across this group of kids, and approximately 15%
of kids have abused a prescription medication in the past year for non medical
purposes. So, this continues to be an unacceptably high rate of abuse of prescription
medications. And in this category, we really have not seen any major changes in the
rate of abuse of these substances, despite the fact that overall we've seen a decline
over the past 5 years in illicit substance abuse, as well as smoking in teenagers.
There's another area where we are observing closely because this, actually, is not
going in the right direction. And this has to do with the perception of 8th graders, that
use of ecstasy or MDMA is deleterious to their health. Their disapproval of the use of
these substances and the rate of disapproval, or sense that they are harmful, is going
down. Because, overall, perception of harm or disapproval predicts the rate of
utilization, we are concerned that we may start to see an increase in the rate of
utilization of these drugs. And, indeed, in 10th and 12th graders we are starting see an
increase in the rate of use of these drugs.
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For more information about any item in this Release Contact:
- Dorie Hightower
301-496-1545
Sara Rosario Wilson
301-594-6145
- Main Press Office:
301-443-6245
- Contacto en Español:
301-594-6145
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