Teen Substance Use Is Declining, But More Dangerous Drug Abuse Is Emerging
There have been "promising" declines in high school students' overall use of illicit substances, concludes a report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since 2013, the percentage of students who reported drinking alcohol, using marijuana, or using select illicit drugs at any point has decreased. Since 2017 and 2019, respectively, the percentage of students who had ever misused or currently are misusing prescription opioids decreased, according to the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
That survey draws on data collected every two years among a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students. The 2023 survey had more than 20,000 respondents and was conducted in the spring.
Still, many students continue to use substances and the lack of progress in some areas is concerning, according to the report.
The findings come as schools continue to face challenges in curbing students' substance abuse , which could negatively affect learning, memory, and attention, according to experts. It could also be a sign of mental health challenges.
While student substance abuse isn't a new challenge for school districts, the substances that adolescents are experimenting with now are much more dangerous, said Darrell Sampson, the executive director of student services for the Arlington public schools in Virginia.
"It's not necessarily that more kids are using substances than in prior years," Sampson said. "It's the lethality of the substance itself that has caused higher levels of concern."
Research has shown rising overdose deaths among teens even as their substance use is declining. Those deaths have been linked to the increase in illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. School districts have been pursuing several strands of legal action against companies that manufactured and marketed addictive opioids that have led to tens of thousands of deaths and countless more addiction struggles in the last two decades.
Beyond the legal actions, schools also continue to provide prevention and education programming for students and families, Sampson said. There's "a glimmer of hope" that those measures are working, he said, based on the declines in the CDC data.
Experts recommend starting education about substance abuse as early as possible
In the Arlington, Va., district, students in grades 6 through 10 learn about substance abuse challenges as part of the health curriculum, Sampson said. The district has also slowly expanded that program to 5th and 4th grades and are looking into whether there's capacity to start that education as early as 3rd grade.
"We know that the more we can at least open that conversation with our families and our students, the better off our students are going to be," Sampson said. "It's not just a message [they're hearing] starting in middle school, but it's a message [they're hearing] over time."
The district is expanding programming with 11th and 12th graders, too, because the information they got when they were in 10th grade could be outdated by then, Sampson said.
In addition, the district has substance abuse counselors who meet with students and try to explore the reasons they might be using substances, Sampson said.
Experts say it's also important to think about how to incorporate student voice in any prevention or intervention programming.
Teens are more than twice as likely to go to their friends or peers for help or support when experiencing distress from their substance use than they are to go to a behavioral health provider or a family member, according to a survey from the Bipartisan Policy Center conducted in June among 932 teens (13- to 17-year-olds) and 1,062 young adults (18- to 26-year-olds). More than a quarter of teens said they didn't go to anyone for help or support when they experienced distress from substance use.
Sophie Szew, a junior at Stanford University and the Bipartisan Policy Center's mental health and substance use task force youth adviser, said those survey results "really underscore the importance of investing in those peer support networks and resources."
