Indicator 10: Youth Illicit Drug Use
Why This Is Important
Alcohol use by adolescents is linked to a host of physical and social problems, including
motor vehicle crime and fatalities. Early onset of use decreases potential economic productivity
as an adult and results in a disproportionate share of health care services for those affected. Use
of drugs is a preventable behavior that, when established in youth, may develop into chronic drug dependency and severe illness. Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in
the United States. Marijuana use has both health and cognitive risks, and it is one of the most
abused illicit drugs.
Where We Stand
According to the 2005 Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), about 43% of high school
aged youth had at least one alcoholic drink on one or more of the past 30 days (up slightly from
previous surveys), 16% reported smoking cigarettes at least once in the past 30 days (notably
down from the 2003 survey), and 22% said that they used marijuana one or more times in the
past 30 days (also notably down). Interestingly, in 2003 boys were more likely to report smoking
cigarettes (22% versus 19%), but in 2005 girls were more likely to report smoking (18% versus
14%). However, boys were more likely to use marijuana (25% to 20%). The same percentage of
boys and girls report drinking alcohol (43%).
Since 1997, the trend is in a positive direction for youth use of tobacco, dropping 23% in the past
eight years. Youth marijuana has also declined from 30% to 22% in those same years. Although
alcohol use declined significantly between 1995 and 2003 (dropping 10%), it increased very slightly between 2003 and 2005 (42% versus 43%).
Data Sources and Context
This information comes from the Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Maine
Department of Education. The data source is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data from the
Maine YRBS is available on-line at http://www.mainecshp.com/survey.html. National YRBS
figures can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs. National YRBS figures for
2005 will not be available until Summer 2006.
*Important Note: YRBS data is gathered every two years using a questionnaire administered
to a sample of students in Maine and nationally. When the Maine YRBS survey has an overall
response rate of 60% or higher, the CDC statistically weights the results so that the numbers
can be generalized to all public school students in the state in grades 9-12. When the overall
response rate is below 60%, the CDC does not perform such statistical weighting, and the data
apply only to the students who actually filled out the questionnaires. Maine’s YRBS data for
1993 and 1999 was unweighted, so information for those years cannot be compared reliably
with data from 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.
