Teen Drinking and Substance Abuse Up

Good blog entry by Michele Borba referencing the Partnership for Drug Free America study. Michele lists the highlights in her advice for parents of teens: Michele Borba Blog Entry 03/21/10.

I thought it was very interesting to see that the percentage of teens using alcohol and the teens using marijuana are so close:

"Alcohol, ecstasy, and marijuana use are increasing:


Number of teens in grades 9-12 that used alcohol in the past month has grown by 11 percent, (from 35 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2009)

Ecstasy use over the past year shows a 67 percent increase (from 6 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009)

Marijuana use shows a 19 percent increase (from 32 percent in 2008 to 38 percent in 2009)  "
 
I have to admit that I would have thought the percentage of teens drinking alcohol to be larger. This study woudl lead me to believe that 61% of the teens surveyed did not use alcohol in the past month. I hope that is accurate.