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Chapter II (continued)
1. Youth
Drug Use Trends
Young
Americans are especially vulnerable to drug abuse. Their immature
physical and psychological development makes them highly susceptible
to the ill effects of drugs for years to come. Moreover, behavior
patterns that result from teen and preteen drug use often produce
tragic consequences. Self-degradation, loss of control, disruptive
conduct, and antisocial attitudes can cause untold harm to themselves
and their families.
Youth
Trends in Current (Past-Month) Use of Any Illicit Drug
Source: 1999 Monitoring the Future Study
Juvenile
drug-use rates level off — According to the Department
of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration's (SAMHSA) 1998 National Household Survey
on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 9.9 percent of youth age twelve to seventeen
reported current use of an illegal drug in 1998 — a 13 percent
decrease from 11.4 percent in 1997. This decline was the first statistically
significant drop in four years.4
For the age group between eighteen to twenty-five years of age,
current use of any illegal drug has been rising since 1994 and currently
stands at 16.1 percent. This increase reflects the maturing of youth
who experienced greater drug-use rates between 1992 and 1996. General
changes in drug use are often linked to marijuana — the most
frequently used illegal drug.5
According to the 1999 Monitoring the Future survey (MTF), lifetime
and past-year use of all illegal drugs did not change from 1998
to 1999 for eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders.
Marijuana
use linked to crime and antisocial behavior — Marijuana
use by young people has been associated with a wide range of dangerous
behavior. Children who begin smoking "pot" at an early age are less
likely to finish school and more apt to engage in acts of theft,
violence, vandalism, and other high-risk behavior than children
who do not smoke marijuana.6
In 1996, nearly one million adolescents, age sixteen to eighteen,
reported at least one incident of driving within two hours of using
an illegal drug (most often marijuana) in the past year.7
An analysis of Maryland juvenile detainees found that 40 percent
were in need of substance-abuse treatment. Among this group, 91
percent needed treatment for marijuana dependence.8
The link between early marijuana use and long-term substance abuse
is demonstrated by "an almost four-fold increase in the likelihood
of problems with cigarettes and a more than doubling of the odds
of alcohol and marijuana problems."9
Changing
teen attitudes — The Partnership for a Drug-Free America's
1999 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) indicates that disapproval
of drugs among 7th through 12th graders reflected their knowledge
of drug-related risks. The study reported that the percentage of
respondents strongly agreeing with the statement: "kids who are
really cool don't use drugs" increased from 35 percent in 1998 to
40 percent in 1999. The teenage belief that "most people will try
marijuana sometime" has declined to 35 percent, from 40 percent
in 1998 and 41 percent in 1997. In addition, 68 percent of teens
believed that a person who uses marijuana runs a higher risk of
getting into trouble with the law — up from 64 percent in 1998.10
The 1999 MTF data support this trend: disapproval of trying marijuana
increased among eighth graders, from 69 percent in 1998 to 70.7
percent in 1999. Likewise, disapproval of regular inhalant use increased
among tenth graders, rising from 91.1 percent in 1998 to 92.4 percent
in 1999.11
Student
Perceptions of Marijuana are Changing
Source: 1999 Partnership for a Drug Free America Tracking Study
Emerging
drug-use trends among youth — The 1999 MTF survey reports
increasing use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and steroids
among students in eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. Past-year use
of steroids among both eighth and tenth graders increased from 1.2
percent in 1998 to 1.7 percent in 1999. Between 1998 and 1999 past-year
use of MDMA (also called ecstasy) among twelfth graders increased
from 3.6 percent to 5.6 percent, respectively. In addition, past-year
use of MDMA among tenth graders increased from 3.3 percent to 4.4
percent.
Youth
Attitudes Determine Behavior
Source: 1999 Monitoring the Future Study
Underage
use of alcohol — Young people use alcohol more than illegal
drugs. The younger a person is when alcohol use begins, the greater
the risk of developing alcohol abuse or dependence problems later
in life. Over 40 percent of youth who begin drinking before age
fifteen become dependent on alcohol compared with just 10 percent
of those who begin drinking at age twenty-one.12
Alcohol use among the young strongly correlates with adult drug
use. For example, adults who started drinking at early ages are
nearly eight times more likely to use cocaine than adults who did
not drink as children.13
The
United States had 10.4 million underage current drinkers of alcohol
in 1998 (compared to eleven million in 1997). In this group, 5.1
million engaged in binge drinking, and another 2.3 million were
classified as heavy drinkers.14
The 1999 MTF reports that daily alcohol use by twelfth graders declined
13 percent (from 3.9 percent to 3.4 percent) since 1998. The proportion
of tenth graders reporting drunkenness sometime during the past
year increased to 40.9 percent in 1999 - up from 38.3 percent in
1998. The number of eighth graders who were binge drinkers rose
from 13.7 percent in 1998 to 15.2 in 1999. In 1999, past-month alcohol
use for eighth graders in metropolitan areas was lower than for
eighth graders in rural areas (21.7 percent versus 28.1 percent).
15
Youth
and Alcohol
Source: 1999 Monitoring the Future Study
Underage
use of tobacco — The younger a person is when smoking begins,
the greater the risk of contracting a disease attributable to smoking.
The 1998 NHSDA estimates that every day more than three thousand
people aged eighteen or younger try their first cigarette. If these
trends continue, approximately five million individuals now under
eighteen will die early from a preventable disease associated with
smoking. Widely available and legal for those of required age, tobacco
is one of the easiest illicit substances of abuse for children to
obtain.
Smoking
tobacco and use of illegal drugs appear to be linked. The 1998 NHSDA
indicates that youths age twelve to seventeen who currently smoked
cigarettes were 11.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs and
sixteen times more likely to drink heavily than youths who did not
smoke.16
An estimated 18.2 percent (4.1 million) people in this age group
were current cigarette smokers in 1998. This rate has remained relatively
stable since 1988.17
In 1997, 39.7 percent of white high school students currently smoked
cigarettes, compared with 34 percent for Hispanics and 22.7 percent
for African-Americans.18
According to the 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey, these numbers
decreased to 32.8 percent, 25.8 percent, and 15.8 percent, respectively.19
This survey also reports that about one in ten (9.2 percent) middle
school students and more than a quarter (28.4 percent) of high school
students are current cigarette smokers; 12.8 percent of middle school
students and 34.8 percent of high school students use any
type of tobacco.20
In rural America, eighth graders are twice as likely to have smoked
cigarettes in the past month than their peers in large metropolitan
areas (26.1 percent versus 12.7 percent) and almost five times more
likely to have used smokeless tobacco (8.9 percent versus 1.8 percent).21
The
recent entry of Indian "bidis"*
into the American market poses a new tobacco-related health problem,
especially in relation to youth. This type of cigarette is available
at gas stations, liquor stores, ethnic food shops, selected health
stores, and through the Internet. Bidis must be puffed more frequently
than regular cigarettes, and inhaling a bidi requires great pulmonary
effort due to its shape and poor combustibility. Consequently, bidi
smokers breathe in greater quantities of tar and other toxins than
smokers of regular cigarettes.22
In addition, bidis contain in excess of three times the amount of
nicotine and five times the tar than regular cigarettes.23
Bidi smokers have twice the risk of contracting lung cancer compared
to people who smoke filtered cigarettes; five times the risk of
suffering heart disease; and a considerably greater risk for cancer
of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, lungs, esophagus, stomach,
and liver. 24
Youth
and Cigarettes
Source: 1999 Monitoring the Future Study
Drug
abuse and sexual activity — Juvenile abuse of alcohol and
other drugs is strongly associated with risk-taking behavior, including
promiscuity. According to the 1999 National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse (CASA) study "Dangerous Liaisons," increased
promiscuity leads to a greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases
and unplanned teenage pregnancy.25
Adolescents aged fourteen and younger who use alcohol are twice
as likely to engage in sexual behaviors than non-drinkers; drug
users are five times more likely to be sexually active than youth
who are drug-free. Teens between the age of fifteen and nineteen
who drink are seven times more likely to have sex and twice as likely
to have four or more partners than those who refrain from alcohol.
Furthermore, more than 50 percent of teenagers say that sex while
drinking or on drugs often produces unplanned pregnancies.26
An Ohio study of high school girls who tried cocaine indicated that
these adolescents were five times more likely to have experienced
an unintended pregnancy than peers who avoided cocaine.27
* Dubbed the “poor man’s cigarette”
in India, bidis (pronounced beedies) are unfiltered cigarettes packed
with tobacco flakes and hand-rolled in tendu, temburni, or other
leaves that are secured with a string at one end. Bidis produced
for the American market are flavored to taste like chocolate and
various fruits or spices, making them more attractive to minors.
Bidis look like marijuana cigarettes, are easy to buy, and are often
cheaper than conventional cigarettes.
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