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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Press Release - "Overall, illicit drug use by American teens continues gradual decline in 2007."

December 11, 2007



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Trends in Alcohol Use

The use of alcohol by teens, like their use of many of the illicit drugs, has declined since the mid-1990s. The 30-day prevalence of alcohol use (reporting drinking an alcoholic beverage at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey) has fallen by 40 percent among 8th graders since their peak level in 1996. The proportional declines since recent peak rates are smaller for the older students, however: about a one-fifth decline for 10th graders and about one sixth for 12th graders. All three grades showed small declines in use this year—none reaching statistical significance. Thirty-day prevalence of alcohol use now stands at 16 percent, 33 percent, and 44 percent for grades 8, 10, and 12.

The greater decline in use among 8th graders may well reflect the greater decline in their reported availability of alcohol. While there has been some decline in reported availability among the upper grades, the 8th graders have shown by far the greatest decline. In 1996, 75 percent of them thought that they could get alcohol if they wanted some, whereas by 2007 the number had fallen to 62 percent.

Self-reports of being drunk continued a long slow decline into 2007 (though one-year changes were not statistically significant this year). Again, the long-term decline was most pronounced among 8th graders—the youngest teens being surveyed.

The proportions saying that they got drunk in the prior 30 days was 5.5 percent in the 2007 survey, down by more than four tenths from what it was in 1996 (9.6 percent). The proportional declines are much smaller for the older students, with 18 percent of the 10th graders admitting to drunkenness within the month, down almost one quarter from their recent peak rate, and 29 percent of 12th graders admitting drunkenness, down only about one sixth from their peak rate in 1997. Here also, none of the one-year declines in 2007 reached significance, but all three grades showed some decline
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Read Full 2007 Press Release (PDF)
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