2008 Red Ribbon Week Media Kit

Drugs in Iowa – Excerpts from the Iowa Youth Survey

The Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) is a self-reporting survey that has been conducted every three years since 1975. The survey was most recently conducted in the fall of 2005. The survey sought responses from youth in grades 6, 8, and 11 from public and non-public schools across Iowa. In 1999, a total of 85,426 students responded, and in 2002 that number increased to 96,971. In 2005, 98,246 students responded to the survey. Students answered questions about their attitudes and experiences regarding substance abuse and violence, and their perceptions of their peers, family, school and neighborhood/community environments. See the 2008 Iowa Drug Control Strategy and the 2005 Iowa Youth Survey.

• Tobacco Use: In 1999, 2002, and 2005 approximately one in three eleventh graders reported current use of tobacco (used a tobacco product in the past 30 days). The most significant changes in both current and past use of tobacco occurred among students in grade 8. In 2005, 8% of 8th graders reported current tobacco use, a decline of 11% from 2002. In 2002, 29% of students in grade 8 reported past use of tobacco use. This figure dropped to 16% in 2005.
• Alcohol Use: While there have been decreases (8%) since the 1999 IYS, the data indicate that in 2005 almost half (41 percent) of 11th graders surveyed responded that they had consumed an alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days. Equally concerning is that nearly 14% of 8th grade students reported current use (consumed one or more drink in the past 30 days). The good news overall however, is that both current and past alcohol use by students in all three of the grades continues to steadily decline.
• Binge Drinking: Binge drinking by youth in grades 6, 8, and 11 over the past 30 days as reported in the Iowa Youth Survey has decreased since 1999. However, Iowa reports a significantly higher binge drinking rate among youth than the national rate. According to the 2004 NSUDH, 14.1% of 12-17 year old Iowans versus 10.9% of 12-17 year olds in the nation 68 had at least one episode of binge drinking in the past 30 days. This finding mirrors Iowa’s above average binge drinking rate among adults.
• Marijuana: The Iowa Youth Survey shows that marijuana is the illicit drug of choice among youth. Eight percent of all youth surveyed in 1999 reported that they currently use marijuana, and 17% of 11th graders reported current use of marijuana. In 2005, six percent of students surveyed reported current marijuana use, down 1% from 2002 and 2% from 1999. In 2005, 13% of 11th graders reported current use of marijuana, a 4% decrease from 1999. Additionally, of the high school juniors surveyed 35% in 1999 and 34% in 2002 reported having used marijuana at some point in their lifetime. This dropped to 33% in 2005. On a note of concern; 3% of sixth grade students reported past use of marijuana in 2005, an increase from 1% in 2002. This is the only area where an increase in use was reported.
• Amphetamine/Methamphetamine: According to the 2005 Iowa Youth Survey, amphetamine and methamphetamine use declined significantly. The percentage of all students reporting having “ever” used amphetamine/methamphetamine dropped from 8% in 1999 to 3% in 2005. During this same time period, the percent of eleventh grade students reporting “ever” using these drugs dropped from 17% to 10% - an indication that fewer students are using these drugs for the first time.
• Inhalants: Inhalant use continues to be of concern in Iowa, and inhalant use more often starts at younger ages. In 2005, there was no reported current use of marijuana, amphetamine/methamphetamine, cocaine, or other illegal drug use by students in grade 6, but 2% did report current use of inhalants. According to the Iowa Youth Survey, inhalant use followed marijuana use as a drug of choice among adolescents. Nationally teen experimentation with inhalants has increased over the past three years to 20%. According to the 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Survey conducted by the 73 Partnership for a Drug-Free America, perception of risk related to inhalant use is dropping, which may have contributed to the increased use.
• Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications: One of the fastest growing threats to youth today is the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. According to the 2005 Partnership for a Drug-Free America Partnership Attitudes Tracking Survey, one in five teens (19 percent or 4.5 million) teens nationally report intentionally abusing prescription drugs to get high, and one in ten report abusing cough medicine to get high.

  Attitude drives behavior. Many teens and adults have a false sense of security about prescription and over-the-counter drugs. This attitude leads them to believe that using these drugs is not dangerous, or at least not as dangerous as using drugs like methamphetamine or heroin. This in turn leads them to believe that using a medicine without a prescription once in a while is not harmful, that abusing prescription pain killers will not cause addiction, and that getting high from cough syrup isn’t risky.

  In an effort to assess the issue of prescription and OTC drug abuse among Iowa youth, two new questions regarding the current (past 30 days) use of these drugs for non-medical purposes were added to the 2005 Iowa Youth Survey (IYS). The two new questions are “In the past 30 days, on how many days have you used prescription medications not prescribed for you,” and “In the past 30 days, on how many days have you used over-the-counter medications different from the directions.” According to the 2005 IYS, a total of 4% of the respondents indicated that they had abused a prescription or OTC drug in the past 30 days. This is slightly higher than the average for inhalant, cocaine and methamphetamine.