Columbia University Study

On Teen Drug Use

NEW YORK CITY — Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that children who are frequently bored are 50 percent more likely to get drunk, use illegal drugs, or smoke. The study further found that teens with $25 or more a week in spending money are twice as likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs.

“High stress, frequent boredom, and too much spending money are a catastrophic combination for many American teens,” said CASA chairman and president Joseph A Califano, Jr. Mr Califano is also the former US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. “But it is a catastrophe,” he continued, “that can be avoided through parental engagement. Parents must be sensitive to the stress in their children’s lives, understand why they are bored, and limited their spending money.”

The survey also found that the average age for first use of alcohol is approximately 12; more than five million children ages 12 to 17 say they can purchase marijuana in an hour or less; and children in schools with more than 1,2000 students are at a higher risk for addiction.

“Two of the most common questions regarding teen drug use and addiction are: how can it happen to my child, and how can it happen to young boys or girls who seem to be typical teens?” said Mr Califano. “These questions are often asked when the drug-abusing teen does not exhibit one of the usual warning signs of drug abuse — being physically or sexually abused, having a learning disability or eating disorder or suffering from serious depression or another mental health condition.”

The survey revealed the answers: high stress, boredom, and a surplus of spending money.

The proportion of students who say that drugs are kept or sold at their high schools is up 18 percent over 2002 (from 44 to 52 percent). As in previous years, Catholic and other religious middle and high schools are more likely to be drug free than are public schools (78 percent to 58 percent).

The incidence of high stress was greater among girls than boys, with nearly one in three girls saying they were highly stressed compared to fewer than one in four boys. In addition, while girls and boys are equally likely to have more than $50 a week in spending money, girls with this amount are more likely than boys to smoke, drink, get drunk, and use marijuana.

More than four out of ten parents said teens are “very” or “somewhat likely” to try drugs, compared to only one in ten teens. Teens whose parents believe that future drug use was “very likely” are more than three times more likely to become substance abusers than teens whose parents say future drug use is “not likely at all.”

More than half of parents whose children attend schools where drugs are used, kept, or sold would not send their teen to a drug free school if they could. Asked why, the replied: no schools are drug free (54 percent), kids make their own choices (22 percent), drugs are not a problem (11 percent), and the child likes his or her school (seven percent).

“Many parents think they have little power over their teens’ substance use and a disturbing number views drugs in schools as a fact of life they are powerless to stop,” noted Mr Califano. “How parents act, how much pressure they put on school administrators to get drugs out of their teens’ schools, their attitude about drugs, and how engaged they are in their children’s lives will have enormous influence over their teen’s substance use.”

For more information, visit CASA at www.casacolumbia.org or contact staff members Richard Mulieri (212-841-5260) or Lauren Elbaum (212-841-5262).