ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A national survey of students in U.S. middle schools and high schools shows some important improvements in levels of substance use. Both alcohol and cigarette use in 2014 are at their lowest points since the study began in 1975. And use of a number of illicit drugs also show declines this year.
These findings come from the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study, which tracks trends in substance use among students in 8th, 10th and 12th grades. Each year the national study, now in its 40th year, surveys 40,000 to 50,000 students in about 400 secondary schools throughout the United States.
A number of measures of illicit drug use showed declines in use this year. The greatest decline was in students' use of synthetic marijuana.
Synthetic marijuana(K-2, "Spice"), sold over the counter in many states--"particularly in gas stations, convenience stores and head shops," according to the report--has synthetic chemical components of marijuana sprayed onto shredded plant material that is then smoked. It is manufactured and sold in an unregulated system.
"Most students still do not recognize synthetic marijuana as a dangerous class of drugs, although the proportion of 12th-graders reporting it as dangerous to use did rise significantly in 2014," Lloyd Johnston, the study's principal investigator. "Efforts at the federal and state levels to close down the sale of these substances may be having an effect."
The proportion of 12th-graders reporting use of synthetic marijuana in the prior 12 months has fallen by nearly half. It was 11% when first included in the survey in 2011 and was down to 6% in 2014.
"Bath Salts,"another class of synthetic drugs sold over-the-counter and of particular concern a few years ago, also have declined in use, with the percentages of students in all three grades now down to less than 1%.
"Fortunately, students have come to see these synthetic stimulants as more dangerous, which they are, and that appears to have limited their use," Johnston said.
Substantial efforts to make them illegal probably have reduced their availability, but the availability of this drug is not measured in the study.
Click here to view more details of the study.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.