April 6, 2006

Drug usage down among teens

A national survey on drug and alcohol use has found that drug use by teens is on the decline with the Midwest and South leading the trend.

The study was done by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and its findings were reported by USA Today in advance of their release Thursday.

The report said children 12 to 17 years old who reported using any illicit drug in the past month declined from 11.4 percent to 10.9 percent. States that saw the biggest declines in teen drug use were Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Carolina, Virginia and Vermont.

The survey combined data from interviews of 135,500 people in 2003 and 2004, the newspaper reported.

The report said there were no statistically significant increases in any age group for drug use. Alcohol use ranged from a low of 29.3 percent in Utah to 62.1 percent in Wisconsin.

Among teens, the only state to see an increase in tobacco use was California, up 10.9 percent from 9.2 percent.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Citation: Drug usage down among teens (2006, April 6) retrieved 10 May 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2006-04-drug-usage-teens.html
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