Survey: Drug use drops in Arkansas' youth

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Drug use among Arkansas’ young people has declined over the past six years, research released Wednesday shows.

A survey conducted in each of the last six years shows a drop in drug use among Arkansas youth from 16.2 percent in 2002 to 13.2 percent in 2007 when students were asked about their drug use in the last 30 days.

Jack J. Pollard, senior research analyst for International Survey Associates, told representatives from school communities, health professions, law enforcement and state and local governments that their efforts were making a difference.

“Arkansas is moving in the right direction,” Pollard said at a meeting of the Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council. “You’ve got things you can work on. But, overall, you are doing good and you are to be congratulated.”

For the surveys, sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th graders completed questionnaires on their use of various substances, including alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens and cocaine.

Results from the 2007 Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment Student Survey were released Wednesday and included figures from previous years, pointing to trends in the state.

Since 2002, the available figures show drug use among Arkansas youth declined among all substances and grades surveyed, except methamphetamine among sixth graders and inhalants among eighth graders and high school seniors.

Sixth graders showed no variation from 2002 to 2007, with 0.1 percent of those surveyed saying they used meth within the last 30 days. Eighth graders who reported using inhalants within 30 days went from 6.2 percent in 2002 to 6.5 percent. The rate among 12th graders rose from 2.2 percent to 2.3 percent.

Fran Flener, state drug director, urged council members to be aggressive in educating their communities about the survey and using the figures to get federal dollars for anti-drug programs.

“We want to ensure that we leave no money left on the table,” she told the group.

Doug Hall, president of Kentucky-based International Survey Associates, said five cities in Arkansas — Clinton, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Huntsville and Rogers — have each received five-year $650,000 grants through a federal drug-free community program. He said a federal evaluation of drug-free communities nationwide showed 10 percent less use of marijuana among high school students, 10 percent less tobacco use among young people and 23 percent less alcohol use.

Where national comparisons were available, the survey shows the percentage of Arkansas eighth graders last year reporting drug use in the last 30 days was greater than the national figure — 12.2 percent compared to 10.1 percent.

Among Arkansas sophomores and seniors, the percentage fell below the national rate. The survey showed 17.1 percent of tenth-grade Arkansans said they used drugs within the last 30 days, compared to 18.1 nationally. Among Arkansas seniors, 20.6 said they used drugs within the last month, compared to 22.8 percent nationally.

The $207,365 survey was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. International Survey Associates surveyed 88,040 students in the fall of last year from 208 of Arkansas’ 245 school districts. For comparison purposes, the researchers used national figures from a National Institute on Drug Abuse study.

Other findings from 2007 were:

— The average age that young Arkansans said they first used alcohol was 12.6 years, compared to a national average of 13.2 years.

— The average age that young Arkansans said they first used cigarettes was 12.1 years.

— 13.6 percent engaged in binge drinking at least once in the last two weeks of taking the survey.

— 45.6 percent reported having used alcohol at least once; 30 percent reported having used cigarettes; 14.8 percent, smokeless tobacco; 15.5 percent, marijuana; 13 percent, inhalants.

— 57.3 percent of 12th graders said that five or more drinks once or twice a weekend does not present a “great risk” to the user.