2007 Maine Marks
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Why This is Important

Social research has identified many interrelated factors (for example, school, family or peer variables) that affect the probability of alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use and related problems among youths. These risk and protective factors include contextual factors such as community laws and norms favorable to drug use, drug availability, economic deprivation, and neighborhood disorganization. The more available drugs are in a community, the higher the risk that young people will use or abuse those substances. Community attitudes about the use of drugs are conveyed through both formal means (such as laws, taxes, licensing requirements and regulations) and informal means. Laws and norms can influence both prevalence of substance use and attitudes about the use of substances and related problems among youths.

Where We Stand

The figures in the above chart are based on the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Surveys conducted in 1998/1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. The percentage of students statewide that reported each of the risk factors in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 was computed, then those four percentages were averaged for each year. All five Surveys asked students’ perceptions about three of their community’s traits that might promote drug use: whether laws/norms are favorable to drug use, whether drugs are available, and whether handguns are available. In general, students’ perceptions of these risk factors dropped somewhat between 1998/1999 and 2006, especially for perceived availability of drugs. Older students typically perceived the community risk factors to be higher than did younger students. These may reflect real changes between the Surveys, or they may be due in part to (1) the fact that the schools and students participating in the various years were not identical, or (2) the fact that the survey methods differed in the various years.

Data Source and Context

The Maine Office of Substance Abuse, Department of Health and Human Services, has conducted the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) periodically since1988. The number of Maine students participating in the Surveys has increased each year (over 22,000 in the 1998/1999 Survey; over 30,000 in 2000; more than 56,000 in 2002; over 75,000 in 2004; and more than 77,000 students in 2006). The 2006 figure represented 68% of all eligible students in the State. The Surveys did not use random samples of schools, so the data collected was not representative of all schools in the state, just those students who completed the Surveys. Because of varying methodologies, ability to compare the 1998/1999 data with data from previous Surveys is limited. MYDAUS data is available on-line at http://www.maine.gov/maineosa/survey/home.php.