Tobacco Use and Substance Abuse

Even though cigarette smoking may be in decline for teenage girls and boys, substance abuse continues. Organizations from all fields—youth development, education, health, government, media—can serve as a positive force in helping youth make healthy decisions about tobacco and illicit drug use.

Statistics

• Approximately 41.6% of females ages 12 or older reported using an illicit drug at some point in their lives. Approximately 12.1% of females ages 12 and older reported illicit drug use in the past year and 6.1% reported illicit drug use in the past six months. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

• Approximately 35.9% of female high school students surveyed nationwide in 2005 used marijuana during their lifetime. This is down from 7.6% in 2003 and 38.4% in 2001. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States 2005)

• For 8th-graders, female and male students continued to have similar rates of daily smoking (4%) in 2005. White 8th-graders (5%) continued to smoke at a higher rate than either their Black or Hispanic peers (2% and 3%, respectively). (Childstats.gov, America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2006)

• Among youth aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was similar for boys (10.1%) and girls (9.7%). While boys aged 12 to 17 had a higher rate of marijuana use than girls (7.5% vs. 6.2%), the rate for nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics was similar for boys and girls (3.1% and 3.6%, respectively). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2005)

• In 2005, among youth aged 12 to 17, the percentage of females who were current drinkers (17.2%) was higher than that for males (15.9%). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2005)

• In 2005, 23.5% of high school females engaged in episodic heavy drinking (i.e., had more than 5 drinks of alcohol in a row on more than one day) compared to 27.5% of their male counterparts. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States 2005)

• In 2005, among youths aged 12 to 17, current cigarette smoking in 2005 was equally prevalent among females (10.8%) and males (10.7%). The rate for females in this age group declined from 13.6% in 2002 to 10.8% in 2005. The rate for males in this age group declined from 12.3% in 2002 to 10.7% in 2005. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2005)

• In 2005, the rate of substance dependence or abuse among females aged 12 to 17 was similar to the rate among their male counterparts (8.3% vs. 7.8%). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2005)

• In 2005 high school females (13.5%) were more likely than high school males (11.3%) to have used inhalants one or more times during their life (e.g., sniffed glue, breathed the contents of aerosol spray cans, or inhaled any paints or sprays to get high). (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—2005)

• Females generally have had lower rates of heavy drinking; however, this has not been true at 8th grade in the last several years, and at 10th grade, girls overtook boys in 2005 in their 30-day prevalence of alcohol use. And for the last four years, 8th-grade girls have had a higher 30-day prevalence of smoking than boys. (Monitoring the Future, National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2006)

• One in four high school females was offered, sold, or given an illicit drug on school property in the past year. (OJJDP, Juvenile Victims and Offenders: 2006 National Report)