Drug Use by U.S. Teens Drops to All-Time Low

Drug Use by U.S. Teenagers Drops to All-Time Low

Use of tobacco and alcohol down considerably, too, federal report finds

WebMD Information from HealthDay

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 13, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- Drug use amongst U.S. teenagers is at an all-time low.

That is the heartening discovering from a brand new survey by the U.S. Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Fewer teenagers are utilizing unlawful medicine than ever earlier than, the survey discovered, and fewer are falling prey to the epidemic of prescription drug abuse plaguing many adults in america.

Many teenagers even have turned away from consuming alcohol and smoking tobacco, mentioned NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow.

"There are important decreases within the patterns of drug consumption amongst youngsters in our nation," Volkow mentioned. "Fairly important, to the purpose the place we now have a number of medicine on the lowest ranges that we have ever seen for the reason that inception of the survey."

The outcomes come from the 2016 Monitoring the Future survey, an annual examine of behaviors and decisions amongst teenagers within the eighth, 10th and 12th grades.

This 12 months's survey discovered that:

• Use of illicit medicine apart from marijuana is at its lowest degree within the historical past of the survey for all three grades. For instance, 14 % of 12th graders mentioned they used a bootleg drug, in comparison with 18 % in 2013.
• Teen use of prescription ache killers is trending downward amongst 12th graders, with a 45 % drop in previous 12 months use in comparison with 5 years in the past. For instance, practically three % of highschool seniors misused the opioid ache reliever Vicodin (acetaminophen/hydrocodone) in 2016, in comparison with practically 10 % a decade in the past.
• Solely 5 % of highschool seniors mentioned they smoke cigarettes daily, in comparison with 22 % 20 years in the past. For 10th graders, the 2016 each day smoking charge is 2 %, in comparison with 18 % in 1996.
• About 56 % of 12th graders drank alcohol prior to now 12 months, in comparison with a peak of about 75 % in 1997. Youthful teenagers additionally adopted this pattern -- 38 % of 10th graders and practically 18 % of eighth graders reported previous 12 months use, in comparison with peaks of 65 % in 2000 for 10th graders and 47 % in 1994 amongst eighth graders.