Study shows reduced substance abuse rates

OXFORD — According to the results of the 2011 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, there have been significant positive trends in the rate of substance use in Oxford Hills students.

Despite the good news, SAD 17 officials say that areas of concern remain, particularly in the use of inhalants and prescription drugs at the middle school level.

Patrick Carson, SAD 17's K-12 health coordinator, presented the results of the survey to the school board during its May 7 meeting.

The state-wide survey focuses on middle and high school students and is conducted every two years.

According to the survey, there have been significant decreases in rates of smoking, binge drinking, marijuana use, onset of marijuana use and exposure to smoking.

Carson said that the decreases in binge drinking rates were especially impressive. The rate of high school students who reported binge drinking dropped from 31 percent in 2000 to 17.7 percent in 2011.

"To see these numbers really fall that dramatically over the last 10 years represents some great changes at the high school level," said Carson.

The percentage of high school students that reported using marijuana in the past 30 days fell from 41 percent in 2000 to 22.8 percent in 2011, and the rate of prescription drug abuse fell to 15.4 percent — 7.7 percent less than 2009.

The middle school smoking rate dropped radically, from 15 percent in 2000 to 7 percent in 2011. The high school rate also dropped five points from 2000, to 20 percent.

Despite the decline, rates of smoking are still higher than the state average by 2.8 percent in the middle school and 4.5 percent in the high school.

Although the majority of the trends were positive, Carson said that there were some areas of serious concern, especially in the middle school.

The rate of illegal prescription drug use in middle school students is 6.3 percent, almost double the state average.

Inhalant use – sniffing glue or 'huffing" paint – at the middle and high school level is around 4 percent more than the state average.

14 percent of middle school students reported that they have used inhalants, compared to the state average of 9.6 percent.

15.7 percent of high school students reported inhalant use. The state average is 11.9 percent.

"This is a way of intoxication that does permanent damage after the fifth time you've done it," Carson said. "So it certainly has an impact on kid's lives and how they function in school and how they function in the community as well."