Adolescents

Adolescents - Data

(2010 - teen concerns) "As in past years, teens continue to cite drugs as their top concern. When asked, “What is the most important problem facing people your age?” 26 percent responded drugs (including tobacco and alcohol); 22 percent responded social pressures; 14 percent, academic pressures; 2 percent, crime and violence. (Figure 3.A) The pressure to drink or use drugs is often mentioned as one of the social pressures teens face."

(2010 - drug free schools) "In 2001, 62 percent of public school students and 79 percent of private and religious school students said they attended drug-free schools (drugs are not used, kept or sold on the grounds of their school). This year, 43 percent of public school students and 78 percent of private and religious school students say they attend drug-free schools."

(2010 - gangs in schools)
"• Forty-five percent of high school students say that there are gangs or students who consider themselves to be part of a gang in their school.

"• Thirty-five percent of middle school students say that there are gangs or students who consider themselves to be part of a gang in their school.

"Compared to teens in schools without gangs, those in schools that have gangs are nearly twice as likely to report that their school is drug infected, meaning drugs are used, kept or sold on school grounds (30 percent vs. 58 percent).

"A quarter of public school students (27 percent) say that their school is both drug infected and has gangs."

(2008-2010 - ease of purchase) "For years, CASA has been asking teens: 'Which is easiest for someone your age to buy: cigarettes, beer, marijuana, or prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or Ritalin, without a prescription?'."

In 2008, CASA reported that 25% said cigarettes, 23% said marijuana, 19% said prescription drugs, 15% said beer, and 7% said it was the same for all.

In 2009, CASA reported that 26% said cigarettes, 26% said marijuana, 16% said prescription drugs, 14% said beer, and 10% said it was the same for all.

In 2010, CASA reported that 27% said cigarettes, 15% said marijuana, 13% said prescription drugs, 26% said beer, and 5% said it was the same for all.

(2008) "As frequency of family dinners increases, reported drinking, smoking and drug use decreases. Compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week, those who have fewer than three family dinners per week are more than twice as likely to have used tobacco or marijuana, and one and a half times likelier to have used alcohol."

(2007 - inhalants)
"• The percentage of adolescents (i.e., youths aged 12 to 17) who used inhalants in the past year was lower in 2007 (3.9 percent) than in 2003, 2004, and 2005 (4.5, 4.6, and 4.5 percent, respectively)

"• Among adolescents who used inhalants for the first time in the past year (i.e., past year initiates), the rate of use of nitrous oxide or “whippits” declined between 2002 and 2007 among both genders (males: 40.2 to 20.2 percent; females: 22.3 to 12.2 percent)

"• In 2007, 17.2 percent of adolescents who initiated illicit drug use during the past year indicated that inhalants were the first drug that they used; this rate remained relatively stable between 2002 and 2007

^{(Note: "Inhalents" are defined as: "Aerosol sprays other than spray paint include products such as aerosol air fresheners, aerosol spray, and aerosol cleaning products (e.g., dusting sprays, furniture polish). The aerosol propellants in these products are commonly chlorofluorocarbons. By contrast, nitrous oxide is used as a propellant for whipped cream and is available in 2-inch tapered cylinders called “whippits” that are used to pressurize home whipped-cream charging bottles.")}

(Sum of 2000-2004 - drug and alcohol offenses in schools and colleges) "Table 9 provides the reported instances in each offense record in which the offenders were suspected of using alcohol, computers, and/or drugs.²² The data show that such use was minimal in situations occurring at schools during the 5-year study period. Of the 589,534 offense records, reports of offenders suspected of using drugs totaled 32,366, while reports of alcohol use totaled 5,844."

(2003 - age of first use) "Most teens who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana do so before they are 14. Among teens who have tried alcohol, tobacco or marijuana, the average age of first use is a little more than 12 for alcohol, 12-1/2 for cigarettes, and 13 years 11 months for marijuana."

(1999 - parent in prison) "Of the Nation's 72.3 million minor children in 1999, 2.1% had a parent in State or Federal prison. Black children (7.0%) were nearly 9 times more likely to have a parent in prison than white children (0.8%). Hispanic children (2.6%) were 3 times as likely as white children to have an inmate parent."

Adolescents - Research

(zero tolerance) "The disciplinary policies in effect in many schools today apply zero tolerance to public school students in three draconian ways. First, they are blind to the most basic distinctions between types of offenses. In many schools, dangerousness is irrelevant; the penalties are the same for weapons and alcohol, sale and possession, robbery, and disorderly offenses. Offenses that used to be resolved informally with an apology or an after-school detention now lead to formal disciplinary hearings. Second, they require a severe sanction, typically suspension or expulsion, for all of these offenses, regardless of the circumstances of the offense or the intent, history and prospects of the offender. Third, these policies generally mandate some degree of information-sharing with law enforcement. This multiplies the consequences of student misconduct in two directions: out-of-school offenses referred to the child’s school may result in suspension or other sanctions,18 and in-school infractions referred to law enforcement agencies may result in juvenile or criminal prosecution."

(marijuana and adolescents) In an ethnographic study of adolescents who were regular marijuana users, researchers at the University of British Columbia, concluded, "Thematic analysis revealed that these teens differentiated themselves from recreational users and positioned their use of marijuana for relief by emphasizing their inability to find other ways to deal with their health problems, the sophisticated ways in which they titrated their intake, and the benefits that they experienced. These teens used marijuana to gain relief from difficult feelings (including depression, anxiety and stress), sleep difficulties, problems with concentration and physical pain. Most were not overly concerned about the risks associated with using marijuana, maintaining that their use of marijuana was not 'in excess' and that their use fit into the realm of 'normal.'

Conclusion: Marijuana is perceived by some teens to be the only available alternative for teens experiencing difficult health problems when medical treatments have failed or when they lack access to appropriate health care."

(marijuana and adolescent motivation) The World Health Organization noted that, while some studies indicate that adolescents who use marijuana might be more likely to drop out of high school and experience job instability in young adulthood, "the apparent strength of these cross-sectional studies ... has been exaggerated because those adolescents who are most likely to use cannabis have lower academic aspirations and poorer high school performance prior to using cannabis, than their peers who do not."

(denial of student aid) "Denial of a college education is now an additional sanction for drug offenders as the result of two federal statutes: a 1998 law that suspends or forever terminates a drug offender’s eligibility for federal college loans and grants, and (as we shall discuss below) a 1994 law making all inmates ineligible for the Pell Grants that formerly provided the means to obtain a college degree in prison.

"The 1998 Drug Free Student Loans Act denies federal grants, federally subsidized loans, and work-study funds to college students who have been convicted of any drug offense– felony or misdemeanor, sale or possession, heroin or marijuana (but not rape, robbery, or murder)."

Adolescents - Alcohol

(adolescents and alcohol) "The presence of alcohol in almost all of the polydrug-use repertoires and among all of the different populations addressed is one of the key findings of this ‘Selected issue’. Alcohol is almost always the first drug with strong psychoactive and mind-altering effects used by young people, and its widespread availability makes it the ever-present drug in substance combinations among young adults, particularly in recreational settings."

(2009 - alcohol) "Alcohol use remains extremely widespread among today’s teenagers. Nearly three quarters of students (72%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school, and more than one third (37%) have done so by 8th grade. In fact, more than half (57%) of 12th graders and one sixth (17%) of 8th graders in 2009 report having been drunk at least once in their life."

(2006) "In 2006, more than one third (35.8 percent) of persons aged 12 to 20 who used alcohol in the past month also had used an illicit drug in the past month, and 16.0 percent of underage drinkers used an illicit drug within 2 hours of using alcohol on their last occasion of alcohol use.

Marijuana was the illicit drug most used by underage drinkers, with nearly one third (30.0 percent) having used marijuana in the past month, and 15.0 percent having used marijuana within 2 hours of their last alcohol use."

"(2002-2006) Combined data from 2002 to 2006 indicated that rates of current (past month) alcohol use were 7.0 percent for youths aged 12 to 14, 27.5 percent for youths aged 15 to 17, and 51.3 percent for 18 to 20 year olds. Binge alcohol use rates for these age groups were 3.3, 17.8, and 36.3 percent, respectively."

(2002-2006) "Among all underage current drinkers, 31.0 percent paid for the alcohol the last time they drank, including 9.3 percent who purchased the alcohol themselves and 21.6 percent who gave money to someone else to purchase it. Underage persons who paid for alcohol themselves consumed more drinks on their last drinking occasion (average of 5.9 drinks) than did those who did not pay for the alcohol themselves (average of 3.9 drinks).

More than one in four underage drinkers (25.8 percent) indicated that on their last drinking occasion they were given alcohol for free by an unrelated person aged 21 or older. One in sixteen (6.4 percent) got the alcohol from a parent or guardian, 8.3 percent got it from another family member aged 21 or older, and 3.9 percent took it from their own home."

Adolescents - Crime

(2007) There were an estimated 195,700 arrests of young people for drug abuse violations in 2007.

"Between 1990 and 1997, the juvenile arrest rate for drug abuse violations increased 145%. The rate declined 21% between 1997 and 2007, but the 2007 rate was still almost double the 1990 rate.

"Over the 1980–2007 period, the juvenile drug arrest rate for whites peaked in 1997 and then held relatively constant through 2007 (down 10%). In contrast, the rate for blacks peaked in 1995, then fell 49% by 2002. Despite the recent increase—23% since 2002—the rate in 2007 was 37% less than the 1995 peak."

(2007) The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention estimated that in 2007 there were 195,700 arrests of juveniles for drug abuse violations out of a total 2,180,500 juvenile arrests. By comparison, there were 97,100 violent crime index offense arrests and 419,000 property crime index offense arrests of juveniles that year.

(2004) "Table 10 shows the offense for which the arrestee was apprehended. The most common offense code reported in arrestee records was simple assault–a crime against persons, followed by drug/narcotic violations–a crime against society. These two arrest offense codes were reportedly associated with more than half (52.2 percent) of the total arrestees." These values were 51,462 "Simple Assaults" and 43,294 "Drug/Narcotics Violations" in Schools and Colleges over a five year period from 2000 through 2004. Other related counts during the same time frame were 5,108 "Drug Equipment Violations", 594 "Liquor Law Violations", 202 for "Drunkenness", and 95 for "Driving Under the Influence".

(2004) "Under the UCR Program, the FBI requires law enforcement agencies to classify an arrest by the most serious offense charged in that arrest. For example, the arrest of a youth charged with aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance would be reported to the FBI as an arrest for aggravated assault. Therefore, when arrest statistics show that law enforcement agencies made an estimated 193,900 arrests of young people for drug abuse violations in 2004, it means that a drug abuse violation was the most serious charge in these 193,900 arrests. An unknown number of additional arrests in 2004 included a drug charge as a lesser offense."

(2003) "In 1980, there were an estimated 1,476 arrests of persons ages 10-12 for every 100,000 persons in this age group in the U.S. population. By 2003, this arrest rate had fallen to 1,296, a decline of 12%. In 1980, 9.5% of all juvenile arrests were arrests of persons under age 13; in 2003, this percentage had decreased to 8.5% -- with the majority of the decrease occurring during the mid-1990s."

(2003) "In contrast to the 1980-1993 period, the overall juvenile drug arrest rate increased by 77% in the short period between 1993 and 1997. Large increases were also seen in the rates of juvenile subgroups: male (72%), female (119%), white (109%), American Indian (160%), and Asian (105%). The black juvenile arrest rate for drug abuse violations, which had increased dramatically in the earlier period, increased an additional 25% between 1993 and 1997. Between 1997 and 2003, the juvenile drug arrest rate fell marginally (22%), with most of the overall decline attributable to a drop in arrests of blacks (41%) and males (24%)."

(2003) "Juveniles using drugs or alcohol committed 1 in 10 of the nonfatal violent victimizations against older teens. This was 2-1/2 times higher than the percentage of victimizations against younger teens perceived to be committed by a juvenile who was using drugs or alcohol.

"Younger teens were more likely than older teens to report that their juvenile offender was not using drugs or alcohol. In about 4 in 10 victimizations against younger and older teens committed by juveniles, the victim could not ascertain whether or not the offender was using drugs or alcohol."

(1997) "The number of offenders under age 18 admitted to prison for drug offenses increased twelvefold (from 70 to 840) between 1985 to 1997. By 1997 drug offenders made up 11% of admissions among persons under 18 compared to 2% in 1985."

Adolescents - Monitoring the Future Report

(Monitoring the Future - 2009 - marijuana prevalence) "But perhaps the most important finding in this year’s results is the fact that, after a decade of gradual decline, marijuana use has begun to tilt up. Lifetime, annual, and 30-day prevalence of marijuana use leveled in 2008 and began to increase in 2009. The 2007–2009 increase in 30-day use for the three grades combined (from 12% to 14%) was, in fact, significant. So, it would appear that the turnaround, though not yet dramatic, is real. As is often the case, this increase was preceded and accompanied by a decline in adolescents’ beliefs about how much risk marijuana use poses. The proportion seeing great risk in regular marijuana use fell from 76% in 2004 to 70% in 2009 among 8th graders, from 66% in 2005 to 60% in 2009 among 10th graders, and from 58% in 2005 to 52% in 2009 among 12th graders."

(Monitoring the Future - 2009 - generational forgetting) "Another point worth keeping in mind is that there tends to be a continuous flow of new drugs onto the scene and of older ones being rediscovered by young people. Many drugs have made a comeback years after they first fell from popularity, often because young people’s knowledge of their adverse consequences faded as generational replacement took place. We call this process “generational forgetting.” Examples include LSD and methamphetamine, two drugs used widely in the 1960s that made a comeback in the 1990s after their initial popularity faded as a result of their adverse consequences becoming widely recognized during periods of high use; heroin, cocaine, PCP, and crack are some others. At present, LSD, inhalants, and ecstasy are all showing the effects of generational forgetting—that is, perceived risk is declining appreciably for those drugs—which puts future cohorts at greater risk of having a resurgence in use."

(2009 - psychotherapeutic drugs) "The psychotherapeutic drugs now make up a larger part of the overall U.S. drug problem than was true 10–15 years ago, in part because use has increased for many such drugs over that period, and in part because use of a number of street drugs has declined substantially since the mid-1990s. It seems likely that young people are less concerned about the dangers of using these drugs outside of medical regimen, likely because they are widely used for legitimate purposes. (Indeed, the low levels of perceived risk for sedatives and amphetamines observed among 12th graders illustrate this point.) Also, prescription psychotherapeutic drugs are now being advertised directly to the consumer, which implies both that they are in widespread use and that they can be used with low risk."

(Monitoring the Future - 1997-2008 - effect of decriminalization) "A study of the effects of decriminalization by several states during the late 1970s found no evidence of any impact on the use of marijuana among young people, nor on attitudes and beliefs concerning its use.⁸⁵ However, it should be noted that decriminalization falls well short of the full legalization posited in the questions here. Moreover, the situation today is very different than it was in the late 1970s, with much more peer disapproval and more rigorous enforcement of drug laws. More recent studies suggest that there may be an impact of decriminalization, such that 'youths living in decriminalized states are significantly more likely to report currently using marijuana.'"

(Monitoring the Future - 1997-2008 - effects of legalization) "Most 12th graders felt that they would be little affected personally by the legalization of either the sale or the use of marijuana. About three fifths (61%) of the respondents said that they would not use the drug even if it were legal to buy and use, while others indicated they would use it about as often as they do now (15%) or less often (1.4%). Only 5.5% said they would use it more often than they do at present, while another 8.9% thought they would try it. (Nine percent said they did not know how their behavior would be affected if marijuana were legalized.) Still, this amounts to 14.4%, or about one in seven who state that they would try marijuana, or their use would increase, if marijuana were legalized."

(Monitoring the Future - 1997-2008 - effects of legalization) "As shown in Table 8-8, about equal proportions of 12th graders in 2008 believed that marijuana use should be (a) entirely legal (29%); (b) a minor violation like a parking ticket, but not a crime (30%); or (c) a crime (28%). (The remaining 13% said they 'don’t know.')

"Asked whether they thought it should be legal to sell marijuana if it were legal to use it, just over half (56%) said 'yes.' However, four fifths of those answering 'yes' (46% of all respondents) would permit the sale only to adults. Only a small minority (10%) favored the sale to anyone, regardless of age, while 31% said that sale should not be legal even if use were made legal, and 13% said they 'don’t know.'"

(Monitoring the Future - 1997-2008 - availability of drugs) "In general, the more widely used drugs are reported to be available by higher proportions of the age group, as would be expected (see Tables 9-6, 9-7, and 9-8). Also, older age groups generally perceive drugs to be more available. For example, in 2008, 39% of 8th graders said marijuana would be fairly easy or very easy to get, versus 67% of 10th graders and 84% of 12th graders. In fact, for the other drugs included in the study, the proportion of students saying they are available to them is generally about twice as high among 12th graders compared to 8th graders, and three times as high for ecstasy. Both associations are consistent with the notion that availability is largely attained through friendship circles."

(Monitoring the Future - 2008 - availability of drugs) "Ever since the study began in 1975, between 83% and 90% of seniors each year have said that they could get marijuana fairly easily or very easily if they wanted some. It has been considerably less accessible to younger adolescents. Still, in 2008 nearly two fifths of 8th graders (39%) and two thirds of 10th graders (67%) reported it as being accessible. This compares to 84% for seniors."

(Monitoring the Future - 2008 - prevalence) The Monitoring the Future survey reports that from 1996 through 2005 more than half of the students in the United States had tried an illegal drug before they graduated from high school. In 2006, these total Lifetime Prevalence rates began to drop below 50% to stand at 47.4% in 2008.

(Monitoring the Future - 2008 - prevalence) "Annual marijuana prevalence peaked among 12th graders in 1979 at 51%, following a rise that began during the 1960s. Then use declined fairly steadily for 13 years, bottoming at 22% in 1992—a decline of more than half. The 1990s, however, saw a resurgence of use. After a considerable increase (one that actually began among 8th graders a year earlier than among 10th and 12th graders), annual prevalence rates peaked in 1996 at 8th grade and in 1997 at 10th and 12th grades. After 1996 there was a continuing gradual decline among 8th graders through 2007, with a pause in 2005. Considering the small increase in 2008, use now is down from the 1996 peak level by about two fifths. In the upper grades, only a very modest decline occurred between 1997 and 2002, followed by a continuing gradual decline. In 10th grade, the decline continued through 2008; while for 12th graders, it halted in 2007 and then use rose slightly in 2008."

(Monitoring the Future - 2008 - usage) In 2008, 5.4 percent of 12th graders reported daily use of marijuana, up slightly from 5.1% in 2007. This compares with 6.0% in 1999 and 4.9% in 1996. Also in 2008, 24.6% of twelfth graders reported having had 5 or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks, the lowest reported percentage in the last 18 years. This 2008 rate continued a downward trend from a high of 31.5% in 1998. Finally in 2008, 5.4% of twelfth graders reported smoking 1/2 pack or more of cigarettes daily, again the lowest reported percentage in the last 18 years. This level of cigarette consumption by twelfth graders peaked in 1997 at 14.3%.

(Monitoring the Future - 1975-2000 - usage) The US has higher rates of illicit drug use by young people than European nations, as noted by this Monitoring The Future survey released in 2001: "The MTF study found that in 1999 41% of tenth grade students in the United States had used marijuana or cannabis at least once in their lifetimes. All the participating European countries had a considerably lower rate of lifetime use, averaging 17%. This proportion varied among European countries from 1% in Romania to a high of 35% in France, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. The US also had one of the lowest proportions of students seeing marijuana use as carrying a risk of harm to the user, and one of the lowest proportions saying that they personally disapprove of marijuana use (pp. 345 and 348).... The US also had the highest rates of use of most of the other illicit drugs studied, as well as marijuana, with the important exception of heroin. These included amphetamines, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, and ecstasy."