According to the survey, given in October to all 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in Washington, more students are making healthier choices by avoiding alcohol. In the past 20 years, there’s been a big drop in 8th and 10th graders who report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. Since 1990, youth drinking is down for 8th graders by over half, from 29 to 14 percent in 2010. Drinking among 10th graders has dropped from 44 to 28 percent. Since 2008, about 20,000 more youth in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade report that their parents talked to them about not drinking alcohol.
While our state has made gains in preventing underage drinking, the same cannot be said for youth marijuana use.
-- Marijuana use among 12th graders increased from 23% to 26% (compared to 20% of 12th graders who smoke cigarettes).
-- Fewer students believe regular use of marijuana is a great risk: down from 63% to 59% among 8th graders; from 52% to 46% among 10th th graders. As perception of harm goes down, drug use increases.
Statewide data is available online. Seattle Public Schools anticipates releasing school-level data in April.
