A new study by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America indicates that methamphetamine and marijuana use by teens has dropped significantly from previous years.
According to the study, methamphetamine use is down 25 percent from 2005, with only three percent of teen reporting use of the drug in the past month. Similarly, marijuana use has declined, although it remains the most widely used drug among kids.
The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, or PATS, “indicates that marijuana use has been declining for a decade, with past-year use down 24 percent since 1998, and past-month use down a full 30 percent... over the same period of time.”
Much of the decline is being attributed to more communication about the dangers of drug use between teens and their parents.
“Parent-child communication about the risks of drugs and alcohol is critically important,” Dr. Amelia Arria, a scientist at the Treatment Research Institute, said in a press release.
“This study may indicate that parents and teens are finding some common language and that these important messages are getting through. We hope to see this trend continue to increase, as there's still much work to be done.”
According to Kids Count, an organization that tracks national data concerning children, 5 percent of Missouri's youth, aged 12 to 17, have used an illicit drug other than marijuana, while 9 percent of youth aged 18 to 25 have used illicit substances.
Though the PATS study brings news that distributing trends of teen drug use might be on a decline, prescription and over-the-counter abuse is still ongoing.
About one in five teens or 4.7 million, reported abusing a prescription medication “at least once” and approximately half of that number, or 2.5 million, report having abused a prescription pain reliever in the past year.
“The strong declines in illegal use combined with the news that teens are learning a lot about drugs and alcohol at home underscores the power and influence of parents,” Connie Berhorst, ACT Missouri executive director, said in a press release. “Yet too many parents are missing opportunities to talk about the intentional abuse of prescription and OTC medications, which is the most pressing and least understood threat to our kids.
“This risky behavior is still not on parents' radar, many of whom don't realize that when abused or used without a prescription, these medications can be every bit as dangerous as illegal drugs,” she said.
PATS shows that just 18 percent of teens say their parents have spoken to them about abusing over-the-counter cough medicine products, many of which now require a person to be 18 years or older to purchase in some states. On the contrary, 37 percent of teens reported that they “learned a lot” about the dangers of illicit drug use from their parents.
Studies indicate that teens who receive guidance from their parents are up to 50 percent less likely to ever use a drug, highlighting the importance of ongoing parental-child communication.
But substance abuse goes beyond illicit drugs, prescription and over-the-counter medication.
Alcohol and cigarettes remain popular substances used by teens, although data shows that binge drinking and cigarette use have also seen significant declines.
According to the study, the use of alcohol has decreased, with 28 percent of teens reporting having had an alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days, down from 46 percent in 1995.
Cigarette use has also dropped, with only 19 percent of teens reporting that they have lit up in the past 30 days, compared to 38 percent 14 years ago.
“With over 6,500 teens from across the nation in the study, these data indicate this generation has greater sensitivity to the health risks and downsides of substance abuse,” Berhorst said.
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