Substance Abuse Study Reveals Problems Vast Majority Of High School Seniors Have Taken At Least One Drink

Idaho’s high school seniors are less likely to have tried alcohol than 12th-graders nationwide, according to survey results announced Tuesday.

But the vast majority - 68 percent - have taken at least one drink.

The figure comes from the first statewide Substance Use and School Climate Survey done in Idaho public schools.

Education officials were gratified to learn that substance abuse is generally less common among Idaho students than among students nationwide. But the survey also documented serious problems, said department spokeswoman Rhonda Edmiston.

“It’s shocking to find out that a lot of kids are using LSD … that so many young kids, 12 years old, are trying alcohol and trying marijuana.”

The survey was conducted last fall by the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, at 111 randomly chosen schools. Almost 10,000 sixth-, eight- and 12th-grade students participated.

Information about individual schools isn’t yet available. Coeur d’Alene was among the participating school districts.

The survey, requested by the Legislature, was paid for with tobacco tax money.

Among its findings:

One quarter of sixth-graders and almost one-half of eighth-graders have tried alcohol. Among seniors, the figure is 68 percent, compared to 79 percent who said they had tried alcohol in the nationwide “Monitoring the Future” study.

Almost 25 percent of Idaho’s 12th-grade boys are heavy drinkers; barely 11 percent of female seniors drink heavily.

26 percent of eighth-graders and 38 percent of 12th-graders have used drugs at least once. The national figures are 31 percent and 51 percent, respectively.

Idaho students report having used hallucinogens such as LSD more than students in the national survey. For eighth-graders, the figures are 7.7 percent in Idaho, 5.9 percent nationally. Among 12th-graders, the figures are 15.5 percent in Idaho, 14 percent nationally.

Marijuana is the drug most often used by Idaho seniors. More than 33 percent have tried pot, and 22 percent have used it in the past month.

Among sixth- and eighth-grade students, the use of inhalants is highest; 16 percent of eighth-graders and 5.7 percent of sixth-graders have sniffed drugs.

48 percent of Idaho seniors have tried smoking, compared to 64 percent nationwide. The figures among eighth-graders are 29 percent in Idaho, 49 percent nationwide.

More 12th-grade girls smoke daily than do senior boys. But while 34 percent of senior males have tried chewing tobacco, only 9 percent of their female classmates have tried it.

17 percent of sixth-graders reported that, within the past month, they had been in a vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol or using drugs. Among 12th-graders, 32 percent said they’d been in that situation.

9 percent of sixth-graders and 17 percent of seniors reported taking a weapon to school at least once.

, DataTimes