New Data on Youth Drug Use Reveals Alarming Trends and Insights

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research held a press conference on December 14, 2010, to discuss new data on youth drug use. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Lloyd D. Johnston, Principal Investigator of the Institute for Social Research, shared insights on the latest trends and the impact of substance abuse on young people.

Key Takeaways:

• The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has been revised to effectively reach young people with a clear message about the dangers of substance abuse.
• The partnership with drugfree.org, formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, has been instrumental in providing information to young people and parents about substance abuse dangers.
• African-American adolescents have the lowest rate of substance use, possibly due to cultural protection from family structure and beliefs.
• Hispanic adolescents are more likely to use alcohol, which is associated with a higher dropout rate in this group compared to others.
• Native American adolescents are more likely to use methamphetamines.
• Substance abuse does not discriminate across ethnic groups, with patterns of use influenced by cultural factors.
• The excessive use of marijuana can lead to a deficit in the production of cannabinoids, which can have significant effects on the brain, including stress reactivity and anxiety.
• The extent to which changes caused by substance abuse can be reversed depends on various factors, including the dose of exposure, age of exposure, combination of drugs, and individual biology.

Statistics:

• 44.6% of 8th graders, 51.4% of 10th graders, and 58.9% of 12th graders recently used marijuana (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
• African-Americans have the lowest rate of substance use among adolescents (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
• 45.5% of Hispanic adolescents report binge drinking, compared to 23.9% of White Americans and 15.6% of African-American adolescents (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
• Native American adolescents have the highest rates of methamphetamine use (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Sources:

• Federal News Service. (2010, December 14). Press Conference with Gil Kerlikowske, Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse; Lloyd D. Johnston, Principal Investigator, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.