Posted on March 4, 2010 - by David

Are More Teens Getting High?

Apparently, the “decade-long decline” in teen drug use has come to an end. The results of the 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, (an annual survey administered by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife Foundation), published this Tuesday show significant increases in the use of alcohol, marijuana, and ecstasy among 9-12 graders in the U.S. You can read a reprint of the AP article here.

I was a little skeptical of these results, so I decided to look at another well known annual study. One of the best sources of information on drug use in the United States has been the Monitoring the Future Survey, carried out by researchers from the University of Michigan since 1975. While the early summary of the 2009 MTF also found an increase in marijuana use, there are some pretty big differences between these two studies.

The PATS finds that 25% of 9-12 graders used marijuana in the past month (up from 19% in 2008), but the MTF shows a past-month rate of 20.6 % for 12th graders, and with the previous year’s rate at 19.4%, this is a much smaller increase. Keep in mind also that this is only the rate for 12^th graders, the group of students with the highest prevalence rates across the board. MTF also collects data for 8^th and 10^th graders, and their rates of past-month marijuana use were 6.5% and 15.9%, respectively. Considering this, the results look drastically different.

While the 2009 PATS shows ecstasy (MDMA) use on the rise, the MTF shows virtually no change in annual prevalence of ecstasy use. While the PATS estimates that 10% of 9-12 graders have used ecstasy in the past year, MTF found that only 4.3% of 12^th graders had used ecstasy in the past year, a figure that has been very consistent for the past 7 years. The PATS 30 day prevalence rate for ecstasy use was 6%, while MTF found that only 1.8% of high school seniors had used ecstasy in the past month.

As far as past-month use of alcohol, the results appear closer than the other categories, (PATS: 39% among 9-12 graders, MTF: 8^th grade-14.9%  10^th grade – 34% 12^th grade 43.5%), but for the MTF, the 2009 and 2008 stats are practically identical whereas the 2009 PATS shows a significant increase.

So, discrepancies between studies aside, if there really has been an upswing in teen drug use, what can be done? The main message accompanying the PATS report seems to be that parents need to do more if they want to prevent their kids from developing a serious problem. Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership belives that “these new PATS data should put all parents on notice that they have to pay closer attention to their kids’ behavior – especially their social interactions – and they must take action just as soon as they think their child may be using drugs or drinking.” The report links to resources for concerned parents who need guidance in confronting this issue. I found this snooping checklist kind of amusing.

They might as well have written “look anywhere and everywhere!”

They even have a section titled ‘Prepare to Be Called a Hypocrite’ with tips on how to avoid letting your kids use your own past experimentation against you. But even before I read this, a question occurred to me which I don’t think is addressed in the Partnership resources  – what about the fact that plenty of parents are still regular users of marijuana and alcohol? I think that by their teens, most kids are aware of their parents substance use, and this can present a difficult contradiction to the message that groups like the Partnership for a Drug-free America want to send.

The Monitoring the Future Survey has collected follow up data on high school graduates, allowing them to build a valuable body of data on adult drug use. The following comes from the 2008 MTF, as the full 2009 report has not been released yet:

The adjusted lifetime prevalence figures are most striking for today’s 50-year-olds (the class of 1976), who were passing through adolescence near the peak of the drug epidemic. Some 86% reported trying an illicit drug (lifetime prevalence, adjusted), leaving only 14% or about one in every seven who reported never having done so (see Figure 4-1). Some 79% of 50-year-olds said they had tried marijuana, and almost three quarters (73%) said they had tried some other illicit drug, including 46% who have tried cocaine specifically. The adjusted lifetime prevalences for 45-year-olds (the class of 1981) are similar to 50-year-olds. Clearly, the parents of today’s teenagers and young adults are themselves a very drug-experienced generation.

The data does suggest that parents confronting their teens about drug use should indeed be prepared to called hypocrites, but I think it’s more important to look at what adults are actively using today:

• 30 day prevalence of any illicit drug use- age 35 (11%) age 40 (9%) age 45 (10%) age 50(12%)
• 30 day prevalence of marijuana use age 35 (8%) age 40 (7%) age 45 (6%) age 50 (7%)
• Daily use of alcohol- age 35(24%) age 40 (22%) age 45(21%) age 50(20%)
• 2-week prevalence of 5 or more drinks in a row- age 35(5%) age 40(7%)  age 45(10%) age 50 (11%)

Actions speak louder than words, and the statistics seem to show that for plenty of kids, looking in the refrigerator, the liquor cabinet, or mom and dad’s own top dresser drawer is enough to justify not only experimentation, but regular use. The MTF literature would suggest that many of today’s parents are members of a generation that used even more heavily than today’s teens do, but overall, I see the trends as fairly consistent, especially when you consider daily users, the group that would likely experience the most problems. When the survey began in 1975, 6% of 12^th graders were daily marijuana users, compared to 5.2% in 2009.

In closing, I can’t resist including this quote from the PATS report, where teen drug use gets couched in terms of an unacceptable national expense. Is it just me or does this sound a bit cold and impersonal?

“We’re very troubled by this upswing that has implications not just for parents, who are the main focus of the Partnership’s efforts, but for the country as a whole,” said Partnership Chairman Patricia Russo. “The United States simply can’t afford to let millions of kids struggle through their academic and professional lives hindered by substance abuse. Parents and caregivers need to play a more active role in protecting their families, trust their instincts and take immediate action as soon as they sense a problem.”

I think it’s important to note that even leaving all of pop culture aside, the nation’s official stance on this issue is not a clear one. Under federal law, marijuana is still a schedule I controlled substance (the designation given to drugs with high potential for abuse and no approved medical use), but in the last ten years, 20 states have passed laws either decriminalizing possession of marijuana or legalizing medical use. This presents an interesting contradiction. I’m not suggesting that changes in legality have led to this supposed “upswing” in use, but I do believe that convincing kids that marijuana is a dangerous drug will become increasingly difficult as the trend towards legalization continues.

From what I’ve observed, each study that shows a decrease becomes an occasion for celebration, while every apparent increase is a cause for major concern. And while people talk and write about these results, kids across the nation keep getting high at basically the same rate.