Use of illicit drugs by American youth generally declined or stayed flat in 2004, including use of methamphetamines -- a result that seems to defy recent anecdotal evidence on the scope of the meth problem and surprised the researchers conducting the survey.

Overally, self-reported illicit drug use declined slightly among the roughly 50,000 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students participating in the annual Monitoring the Future survey, continuing a trend seen over the last eight years among 8th-graders and the past three years among 10th- and 12th-graders.

Marijuana use was essentially flat compared to 2003, but more students now perceive marijuana as dangerous -- a result that lead researcher Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D., credited to the Office of National Drug Control Policy's national anti-marijuana media campaign. "I am not aware of any other social influence process that could explain these changes in how young people view marijuana," he said.

Use of ecstasy, a club drug that has drawn considerable attention and concern since the mid-1990s, has declined over the past two years after a steady rise in reported consumption. Since 2002, annual use of ecstasy fell by more than half among 10th- and 12th-graders, and perceived risk has risen.

The survey found significant increases in youth use of OxyContin, a drug added to the questionnaire in 2002 amid an explosion of reported abuse of the prescription painkiller. Among high-school seniors, 5 percent reported having used OxyContin during the past year, up from 4 percent in 2002. By contrast, just one percent of youths reported using heroin. Johnston called the rates of OxyContin use "disturbingly high."

However, the students surveyed were less likely to report having used methamphetamine in 2004, a trend that has continued since participants were first asked about the drug in 1999. "Somewhat to our surprise, the results show a downward trend over the last five years," despite widespread media and anecdotal reports about the rapid spread of methamphetamine across the U.S., Johnston told Join Together. "It's a little hard to reconcile."

Johnston said that the survey may be missing use among high-school dropouts, who represent about 15 percent of the population but are not included in Monitoring the Future.

One disturbing trend identified by survey researchers is an increase in inhalant use, notably among 8th-graders. In 2004, inhalant use increased not only among the youngest students in the survey, but among 10th- and 12th-graders, as well. The percentage of students who perceived inhalant use as risky also declined.

"This turnaround ... continues to suggest the need for greater attention to the dangers of inhalant use in our media messages and in-school prevention programs," said Johnston.

Alcohol use by youth, which had been declining since 1991, seems to have flattened out in 2004, with more than half of 12th-graders (55.8 percent) reporting having used alcohol in the past year. Tobacco use, on the other hand, declined for the eighth straight year. "The bad news is that the decline has decelerated sharply in the past two years," noted Johnston. In 2004, 25 percent of 12th-graders said they smoked, along with 16 percent of 10th-graders and 9 percent of 8th-graders.

Researchers pointed to a number of factors that fueled the substantial decline in youth smoking during the 1990s and early 2000s, including bad publicity for the tobacco industry, marketing changes forced by the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement, a sharp rise in cigarette taxes, and antismoking ads by states and the American Legacy Foundation.

"Whether we will see teen smoking continue to decline in the future is likely to depend on what actions society and the tobacco companies take," said Johnston. "The fact that a number of states have reduced their allocations of tobacco-settlement money to smoking prevention is likely to have an adverse effect." Less funding of antismoking ads by the American Legacy Foundation also could hurt, especially as tobacco companies increase their advertising and promotional spending. On the other hand, said Johnston, "If more states and municipalities decide to raise tobacco taxes, that likely will bring youth smoking rates lower."

Johnston told Join Together that many of the same lessons about lowering tobacco use can also be applied to prevention of youth alcohol use. "Price elasticity also applies to alcohol," he said, so raising taxes could make a difference in consumption. Johnston added that media campaigns targeted alcohol use also could be effective, noting that youth alcohol consumption fell off dramatically during the 1980s, at the height of the anti-drunk-driving movement (the rise is the legal drinking age also was a factor). "Those campaign were really intended to address the intersection of drinking and driving, but they also served to reduce drinking itself," he said.

Johnston always has been a believer in media messages aimed at reducing drug use. "It's interpretation on our part, but we see a correspondence between when these campaigns kick in and behavioral changes," he said. Both alcohol use and inhalant use seem to be good candidates for media campaigns similar to that now being targeted at marijuana, said Johnston.

Further Reading:

Monitoring the Future Survey Results Released

Monitoring the Future Follow-Up Finds Higher Adult Alcohol, Drug Use than Expected

New Data on Teen Alcohol Use Confirms AMA Concerns About "Alcopops"