A major new government survey of 50,000 teens indicates that overall drug use has continued to decline over the past ten years. However, more teens are abusing prescription painkillers.

Social scientists at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research investigated the behaviors of 8th, 10th and 12th graders and found that the percentage of eighth graders using illicit drugs at least once a year dropped to 13% from 25% in 1997. For 10th graders, the rate dropped from 39% to 28%; and for 12th graders, those figures are 42% compared to 36% today.

Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator for the National Institute on Drug Use study, said, "The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are substantial, especially among the youngest students."

The bad news is that more teens are experimenting with prescription narcotics like Oxycotin and Vicodin, which doctors prescribe to cancer patients and others in severe pain. These drugs can produce states of euphoria often followed by stupor. Almost 10% of the 12th graders in the study had tried Vicodin, and 5% of all students in the survey had tried Oxycotin.

Researchers found an increase in the use of ecstasy, but a decline in amphetamine and methamphetamine. In addition, anabolic steroid use is on the increase among teenage boys. Marijuana remains the most popular of the illicit drugs.

If you believe your teen has experimented with drugs or alcohol and it's affecting their performance in school and in their relationships, then Excel Academy can help. Excel is a Texas boarding school that specializes in helping families who are suffering because of teen drug use.

Labels: abuse, addiction, teenagers