DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE BY STUDENTS

In 1984, approximately 6,682 Orange County students, aged 12, 14 and 16, participated in a substance abuse survey conducted by UCLA’s Graduate School of Education. The results from the anonymous questionnaire indicated the following: Most students first tried alcohol or drugs at age 13. About 66% of surveyed 7th graders reported having tried beer or wine before or during the fourth grade. By the 11th grade, 69% of all the students had been intoxicated from alcohol and 47% from other drugs. Eleventh graders by 13.5% reported daily use of one or more types of alcohol or drugs. In comparison, a national survey of 16,499 high school seniors representing the graduating classes of 1984 from 35 states, conducted by the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research under the “Monitoring the Future Program,” between February and May revealed: 68% of all students, ages 17 and 18, had used alcohol in the previous month. 27% of all students had used marijuana in the previous month. 7% of all students had used cocaine in the previous month. 29% of all students had smoked cigarettes in the previous month. 5% of all students reported daily alcohol usage. Source: “The Rising Tide of Troubled Youth,” published by the Orange County Department of Education, Instructional Services Division-Human Services Unit, August 1986.