A national study released in March 2010 points to marked upswings in the use of drugs that teens are likely to encounter at parties and in other social situations.

• Alcohol use in the past month by teens in grades 9-12 has grown by 11%
• Past year Ecstasy use shows a 67% increase
• Past year marijuana use shows a 19% increase

The 2010 Key Findings of the Monitoring the Future Survey state:

• Nearly half (42%) of students have tried cigarettes by 12th grade and 19% of 12^thgraders are current smokers.
• Nearly three quarters of students have consumed more than just a few sips of alcohol by the end of high school.
• More than half of 12^thgraders and one sixth of 8^th graders in 2010 report having been drunk at least once in their life.
• Today, nearly half of students have tried an illicit drug by the time they finish high school.
• 25% have used some illicit drug other than marijuana by the end of 12^thgrade, and almost 20% of all 12^th graders reported doing so during the 12 months prior to the survey.

The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is also rising in youth where students are raiding their parent’s medicine cabinets and mixing medications at parties.

• Over 12 million Americans aged 12 and older reported nonmedical use of prescription drugs in 2010 (in the past year).
• One in 10 high school seniors used the powerful pain reliever Vicodin for nonmedical reasons in the past year.
• More than one million adolescents (12-17) needed treatment for an illicit drug problem in 2008.

Resources:

• Partnership for Drug Free America
• Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/11/23/1347241/a-better-targeted-drug-fight.html#ixzz0njXeRiL6
• Monitoring the Future