Fewer eighth, 10th and 12th grade students are using drugs, alcohol and prescription medications. Those are among the findings of the 2014 Monitoring the Future survey which was released Tuesday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

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"We find the results encouraging with decreasing use of alcohol and cigarettes, some decreasing use of prescription pain relievers, which have been a major public health problem in the last decade, and some stable use of marijuana," said Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director at the NIDA. "Despite some deterioration in the perceptions of harmfulness and in the disapproval of marijuana by teens, the use rates have not gone up."

One of the more encouraging signs in the report is the drop in prescription medication abuse.

Five to 10 years ago, the use of the prescription opioid Vicodin was reported in about one in 10 high school seniors. In 2013, 4.8 percent reported use and misuse of Vicodin.

"When you look at the overall category of prescription opioids, it's dropped from more than 9 percent to about 6 percent. That's one in 16 kids using those powerful pain relievers to get high, a market improvement of the rates just a few years ago," Compton said.

There has also been improvement in alcohol use in all three grades.

According to the report, about 9 percent of eighth-graders reported use of any alcohol, which is a one-third drop in five years. In 10th grade, 23.5 percent reported alcohol use, which is down from 30 percent. About 37 percent of 12th-graders reported alcohol use compared to 44 percent five years ago.

When it comes to binge drinking, which is drinking at least five drinks within a short period of time, the rate is about 20 percent among high school seniors in any given two week period, which is still one in five high school seniors. "It was more than 30 percent in the late 90s, so that is still a market improvement over the past several years," Compton said.

About 11 percent of high school seniors reported synthetic drug use, like K2 and Spice, just two years ago. That number is down to 5.8 percent, which is nearly a 50 percent drop. Of the high school seniors who use marijuana, the use of edible forms of cannabis is very common. "42 percent of those living in medical marijuana states report use of edibles and about 23 percent in the other states report use of these edible products," Compton said.

For the first time ever, the report tracked the use of e-cigarettes among the nation's youth, and the numbers are alarmingly high.

"About 8.7 percent of the eighth graders, 16.2 percent of the 10th-graders and 17.1 percent of the 12th-graders report using e-cigarettes over the past month," Compton.

While Compton admits the report can be seen as encouraging, he warns that complacency is not an option.  Education and prevention efforts need to continue."

The survey is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and is funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. It tracks annual drug use trends in eighth, tenth and twelfth grade students, including attitudes and perceived risks of specific drugs.

 

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