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Troubled teenagers and Prescription drugs |
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“Monitoring the Future,” a recent study of the University of Michigan funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown that less teenagers in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades have been reported using illicit drugs, yet those who do have been abusing prescription drugs. The study surveyed 48,025 students from 403 schools.
In all three grades, the use of OxyContin, has risen. Researchers observed that 1 out of 20 12th graders have had experience with the narcotic within the past year.
The division director, Wilson Compton, of the National Institute on Drug Abuse felt particularly problematic about the results of the study.
"Prescription drugs remain at high and very concerning levels. We need to do a better job of communicating the risks of these prescription drugs and protecting youth from what can be dangerous in the long run," says Compton.
Despite these results, the study also showed some positive light as well.
The number of teens in 8th grade which reported use of an illicit drug in the year before the survey went down from 24% in 1996 to 13% in 2007.
In 10th grade teens, the decline was from 39% in 1997 to 28% in 2007. 12th grade teens reported a decline in use from 42% in 1997 to 36% in 2007.
Alcohol use by teenagers has also declined from the time of the mid-1990’s. In 8th and 10th grade, the rates of smoking have also shown a decline in 2007.
Marijuana and stimulants such as amphetamines have been used by teenagers less as well. Compton believes that the decline is due to an increase in public awareness.
In spite of the decline in these other drugs, the use of cocaine did not decline in 2007. In the past, after its peak of use in the late 1990s, cocaine use by teens declined for a few years. But at present its record of use has been comparatively level. 2-5 percent of teens in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades have reported cocaine use in the year that passed.
Ecstasy or MDMA, increased in use. In the early 2000s the party drug’s popularity decreased but its use has started to increase in the higher grades.
A principal investigator of the study and a prominent University of Michigan researcher, Lloyd Johnston, wrote “There is evidence here of this drug beginning to make a comeback.”
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