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ADOLESCENT USE OF TOBACCO AND OTHER DRUGS DECLINES,
INDICATING THAT PREVENTION EFFORTS ARE WORKING
EDITORS: A summary of this report, along with graphs and tables, can be found on the Web at http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/drug_stats/youth99/exec99.html
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- State and federal initiatives aimed at reducing adolescent drug use and changes in public attitudes and policies about tobacco may be helping to reduce drug use by Indiana schoolchildren, according to an annual survey conducted by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University released today (June 28).
Drug use by Hoosier children and adolescents declined dramatically over the past year. Decreased usage was most noticeable among seventh, eighth and ninth grade students, who were targeted by a new state prevention initiative.
"Last year, we cautiously noted that tobacco use and inhalant use had declined, and that the steady increases in adolescent drug use noted from 1993 to 1996 had leveled off," said William Bailey, director of the IPRC. "This year, we can report that use of most drugs by Indiana children and adolescents is decreasing significantly and that new prevention efforts in Indiana seem to be having a positive effect."
This year's findings are based upon analysis of data from 94 separate, local surveys of 81,685 young people in grades six through 12 in 281 Indiana schools. The survey was funded by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Mental Health.
Among this year's most significant findings is a continued dramatic decline in youthful use of tobacco. Although Indiana's rates of youthful tobacco use still far exceed the national average, Indiana has made remarkable progress in reducing tobacco use by schoolchildren over the past three years.
The center reported a slight decline in cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use between 1996 and 1997, and a somewhat larger decrease between 1997 and 1998. Compared with 1996, about 28,500 fewer Indiana children and adolescents smoked cigarettes on a monthly or more frequent basis in 1999.
About 17,900 fewer Hoosier youth smoked cigarettes daily, and about 14,000 fewer smoked a half pack or more per day in 1999 compared with 1996.
Bailey said the decreases in tobacco use were almost universal. Cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use decreased for all measures of prevalence: lifetime, annual, monthly and daily. Cigar and pipe smoking, which were first measured in 1998, also decreased. One exception to the trend was a slight increase in cigarette smoking among high school seniors. This may be related to a delayed onset of smoking by some youth until they reach age 18.
"Increased enforcement efforts and the new federal regulations requiring proof of age for tobacco purchases may have influenced some youth to delay tobacco use until they became of legal age to purchase it," Bailey said. "The increased attention to the age 18 requirement for legal possession of tobacco may have inadvertently influenced some youth to see tobacco use as a rite of passage related to their 18th birthday."
However, more than two-thirds of the decreases occurred among those in seventh, eighth and ninth grades, the "three critical years" targeted by the State of Indiana for extra prevention programming.
Bailey said one of the major benefits of the decline in youthful cigarette smoking is the related potential for a future decline in the use of other drugs.
"Cigarette smoking is said to be a 'gateway drug' that can lead to use of other drugs, and smoking rates are the best statistical predictor of use of other drugs by children and adolescents," he said. "Youthful smokers are 10 to 50 times more likely than nonsmokers to use marijuana, cocaine and other illicit drugs. Decreases in tobacco use should lead to future decreases in use of other drugs."
Also declining was adolescent use of illicit drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, prescription drugs and inhalants, particularly among youth of middle-school age, the center found. However, as with tobacco, use levels reported by Hoosier youth still exceed the national average levels for most drugs.
Reported illicit use of prescription drugs dropped for almost all categories of stimulants, tranquilizers, prescription narcotics and depressants. For example, lifetime use of tranquilizers by eighth graders dropped to 10.1 percent from 12.5 percent two years ago. Lifetime use by 10th graders dropped to 15.5 percent from 16.3 percent, and by 12th graders to 15.8 percent from 16.2 percent over the same time period.
The Indiana rates for illicit use of tranquilizers, however, still are about twice the national average.
Lifetime use of cocaine dropped among 12th graders from 8.9 percent to 8.4 percent; among 10th graders from 6.7 percent to 6.0 percent; and among eighth graders from 3.5 percent to 2.6 percent over the past two years. The Indiana rates for lifetime cocaine use are slightly below the national average. Monthly cocaine use by Indiana youth, however, does not differ significantly from national rates.
Marijuana use by Indiana youth decreased significantly at most grade levels and for most measures of prevalence. Again, the largest decreases occurred among youth of middle- school age. Use of marijuana at least once in the past year by Hoosier eighth graders decreased from 21 percent to 17.7 percent, and by 10th graders from 35.1 percent to 32.8 percent, from 1997 to 1999. Use by high school seniors remained at 37.1 percent.
Monthly marijuana use by eighth graders decreased from 13.8 percent to 11.3 percent and by 10th graders from 23.7 percent to 21.1 percent over the past two years. Use by 12th graders remained stable at 23.5 percent, but is down from the peak rate of 25.4 percent in 1996.
"Daily marijuana use, however, did not change significantly at any grade level between 1997 and 1999," Bailey said. "This suggests that the reductions are occurring among infrequent and casual users, but not among those who use on a more frequent basis."
While there were significant decreases in use levels for most drugs, there was little change in the rates of underage alcohol drinking over the past year. Slight increases in some measures of prevalence were offset by slight decreases in other measures. But overall, the changes were minimal.
Rates are somewhat lower than were observed in 1996, but the small decreases shown between 1996 and 1998 did not continue in 1999. Monthly and daily use rates by Hoosier youth still exceed the rates reported nationally.
The decreases in youthful drug use, although apparent in all grades six through 12, were most significant in the middle school grades. Nearly two-thirds of the total decreases occurred in grades seven, eight and nine. This corresponds closely with the youths targeted by state prevention initiatives.
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center is a statewide clearinghouse for prevention technical assistance and information about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. It is Indiana's officially designated Regional Alcohol and Drug Awareness Resource Network center. It is operated by the Department of Applied Health Science in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at IU Bloomington.
For more information on the center and its resources, see its Web site at http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)