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Did you know: ~ 1 in 3 Tompkins County high schoolers are current alcohol users. ~ 1 in 6 are current marijuana users. ~ Tompkins County 10th and 12th graders report more alcohol and marijuana use than national peers.

These results come from the Youth Development Survey, given in October, 2010 to 4,788 students in grades 6-12 from Dryden, Groton, Ithaca, Lansing, Newfield and Trumansburg School Districts.  First given in 2008, the survey measures risk and protective factors that predict problem behaviors such as delinquency, violence, dropping out of school, and youth substance use.  It also provides valuable information about students’ out-of-school time, family life, connections to school and school climate.

The survey is a project of the Community Coalition for Healthy Youth in collaboration with TST BOCES and local schools.  The Coalition uses a federal Drug Free Communities grant to engage a diverse, caring community to reduce youth substance use in Tompkins County.  Here are some of the substance-use related results from the 2010 survey.

Alcohol continues to be the most widely used drug among Tompkins County youth.  55% of students in grades 6-12 have had a full alcoholic drink at least once in their lives, up from 49% in 2008.  18% of high schoolers reported binge drinking (5 or more drinks in a row) in the previous two weeks.  Comparisons with national peers show higher lifetime and 30-day use for local students in grades 10 and 12.  The average age of first alcohol use is 13.1 years.

Marijuana is the next most commonly used drug by Tompkins County youth.  By 12th grade, 45% have tried marijuana at least once and 26% are current users (within the past 30 days).  These rates are higher than in 2008 when 34% had tried marijuana and 21% were current users.  Current use rates by Tompkins youth exceed national rates for both 10th and 12th grades.  The average age of first marijuana use is 13.9 years.

Tobacco use by youth in Tompkins County is lower than that of national peers.  Use rates for both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco decreased for most grades since 2008.  Overall, 6% of students reported using smokeless tobacco and 8% reported using cigarettes in the past 30 days.  The average age of first use of cigarettes is 13.0 years.

Pharmaceuticals are being misused at increasing rates across the country and Tompkins County shows evidence of this trend, especially potentially dangerous prescription pain killers.  While rates may appear low (6% of high schoolers misused pain killers in the past 30 days), these students have double the alcohol use rates (60%) and triple the binge drinking rates (57%) of other high schoolers.

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