Since 1975, the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey has measured drug, alcohol and cigarette use and other related attitudes among adolescents nationwide. Overall, the 2005 MTF survey reported good news. While there was no substantive change in any illicit drug use by adolescents between 2004 and 2005, analysis of the survey revealed an almost 19-percent decline in "past-month" use of illicit drug by eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders between 2001 and 2005. This trend is driven largely by decreasing rates of marijuana use among students. For example, since 2001, past-month use of marijuana has fallen by 28 percent among eighth-graders and by 23 percent among 10th-graders.
Survey participants reported their drug-use behaviors across three time periods: over their lifetime, over past year and over the past month. Overall, 49,347 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades from 402 public and private schools participated in this year's survey. The survey is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., and is conducted by the University of Michigan.
While the 2005 survey showed a continuing general decline in drug use, there are continued high rates of nonmedical use of prescription medications, especially opioid painkillers. For example, in 2005, 9.5 percent of 12th-graders reported using Vicodin in the past year, and 5.5 percent of these students reported using OxyContin in the past year. Long-term trends show a significant increase in the abuse of OxyContin from 2002 to 2005 among 12th-graders. Also of concern is the significant increase in the use of sedatives/barbiturates among 12th-graders since 2001.
"I'm pleased to see the decreased drug use noted in this survey; however, the upward trend in prescription drug abuse is disturbing," said NIH director Elias Zerhouni, M.D. "We need to ensure that young people understand the very real risks of abusing any drug."
"While cigarette smoking is at lowest levels in the history of the survey and overall drug use among teens and adolescents is continuing to decline, there remain areas of concern with specific drugs of abuse such as prescription painkillers," said Nora D. Volkow, M.D., director of the NIDA. "Prescription drugs are very powerful medicines that are effective when used properly and with a doctor's supervision. Using these drugs without a prescription is dangerous. It's imperative that teens get this message."
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