Priority Indicator #18: Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco Use by Youth Under Age 18

Contents: Background Information | Data Tables | Data Charts | Commentary | Download Data 

Background Information

What Does This Indicator Mean?
This indicator measures the percentage of public school students in grades 6, 8, and 11 who report having used alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs during a given time period.

Other Risk Factors or Indicators to Consider
In surveys of public school students, respondents who recently used alcohol or drugs had skipped classes, earned failing grades or received suspensions at far higher rates than those who did not use such substances. Youth who had recently used alcohol and drugs were also more likely to commit criminal and violent acts, such as to bring handguns to school, use a weapon in a fight, or steal a car.

Limitations of the Data
These data were collected as part of the Oregon Public School Drug Use Surveys for 1998 and 2000, which relies on self-reporting. Therefore it is possible that students incorrectly reported the true amount of their alcohol, drug, and tobacco use.  The responses were anonymous, though, and surveys that showed evidence of false responses were excluded.

Not all school districts in Marion and Polk Counties participate in the drug use survey.  Salem-Keizer School District is one school district that does not participate.  The names of school districts that do participate is confidential, but the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs has collected the data for this indicator in the same manner since 1986 to ensure effective comparisons.    

Data Sources

  • Oregon Public School Drug Use Survey for 1998 and 2000, Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, Oregon Department of Human Services

Presentation and Discussion of Data

The following table shows percentages of eighth grade students who reported using alcohol, illicit drugs, or tobacco products during the month prior to the survey.

  Alcohol Illicit Drugs Tobacco
County 1998 2000 1998 2000 1998 2000
Marion

27.7%

 25.3% 18.0% 21.1% 20.6% 20.0%
Polk 22.2% 29.1% 23.4% 18.9% 25.2% 14.5%

The table below shows the percentage of sixth grade students reporting use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or inhalants in the 30 days prior to the 1998 survey.
Tobacco Alcohol Marijuana Inhalants
Oregon 6.9% 8.2% 1.6% 5.3%
Marion County 6.5% 9.8% 3.3% 6.4%
Polk County 8.2% 10.8% 1.3% 6.5%

The table below shows the percentage of eighth grade students reporting use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs in the 30 days prior to the 1998 survey.
  Tobacco Alcohol Illicit Drugs
Oregon 21.7% 26.0% 18.6%
Marion County 20.6% 27.7% 18.0%
Polk County 25.2% 22.2% 23.4%

The table below shows the percentage of eleventh grade students reporting use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs during the 30 days prior to the 1998 survey.
  Tobacco Alcohol Illicit Drugs
Oregon 35.1% 42.9% 24.2%
Marion County 34.3% 39.1% 16.3%
Polk County 30.7% 32.0% 19.8%

The charts below show the percentage of eighth grade students in Marion and Polk Counties who reported using alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs during the month prior to the surveys.

Commentary

There seems to be no discernable pattern regarding which county has higher rates of substance use by youth.  For some grades and substances, Marion County students reported higher rates of use, and in other cases Polk County rates were higher.  

As might be expected, incidence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use tends to increase as students move to higher grades.  Yet in both Marion and Polk Counties the rate of use of illicit drugs is higher for students in the 8th grade than for students in the 11th grade.  

Among 11th grade students in both Marion and Polk Counties, use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs in 1998 were all lower than the statewide rate.  Meanwhile a higher percentage of 6th graders in both counties reported using alcohol and inhalants than did 6th graders statewide.   

In Marion County the rate of alcohol use among eighth graders decreased slightly between 1998 and 2000 from 27.7% to 25.3%, while illicit drug use increased from 18.0% to 21.1%. In Polk County, alcohol use increased among eighth graders, while use of illicit drugs and tobacco decreased between 1998 and 2000.  

Download the Data

Download Data in Microsoft Excel 

Download Data as a Tab Delimited Text File (Windows users: right click on this link, save file, and then open in your favorite spreadsheet; Mac users: click the link and hold for a second or two, then save the file and open it in a spreadsheet)

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This page last updated 2 October 2001