Use of Substances by High School Seniors, Eighth and Tenth Graders from 1995:2002

photo by: Alana Elliott

By L.B Blume|M.J. Zembar

This table displays the use of drugs such as marijuana and cocaine among high school seniors, 10th graders, and 8th graders. Note the inclusion of inhalants in this table. These drugs appear to be more accessible and affordable to young adolescents and therefore are used and abused with more frequency in this age group.

Substance and Grade in School	1995	2000	2002
MARIJUANA
All seniors	21.1	21.6	21.5
10th graders	17.2	19.7	17.8
8th graders	9.1	9.1	8.3
COCAINE
All seniors	1.8	2.1	2.3
10th graders	1.7	1.8	1.6
8th graders	1.2	1.2	1.1
INHALANTS
All seniors	3.2	2.2	1.5
10th graders	3.5	2.6	2.4
8th graders	6.1	4.5	3.8
MDMA (Ecstasy)
All seniors	-	3.6	2.4
10th graders	-	2.6	1.8
8th graders	-	1.4	1.4

Source: Data taken from the Monitoring the Future Study, 2003, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Annual Surveys. Available from http://drugabusestatistics.samhsa.gov/

Middle Childhood to Middle Adolescence: Development from Ages 8 to 18
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Excerpt from Middle Childhood to Middle Adolescence: Development from Ages 8 to 18, by L.B. Blume, M.J. Zembar, 2007 edition, p. 256.

© ______ 2007, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.

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