YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE MAY BE OVERESTIMATED

As the Drug and Alcohol Prevention Worker at David Thompson Secondary
School ( DTSS ), I take note of press coverage of youth issues, especially
in the Columbia Valley. In the last months, a number of community members
have expressed concern about youth substance use. While I take heart in the
level of care expressed by these individuals, I also wonder if a
disproportionate amount of negative press has the potential to slant public
perception in this area.

Much of my concern is based on something called social norms theory. This
theory suggests that because peer groups exert a strong influence during
adolescence there is a tendency for youth to make decisions about their
behaviour based on their perceptions of social norms. As a result, youth
often consume drugs and alcohol in excess because they have exaggerated
ideas about the amount their peers consume.

Adults reinforce this trend when they, in turn, overestimate and make
generalizations about adolescent drug and alcohol use. Research shows that
public misperceptions tend to be media based, and that one of the best ways
to counter them is through counter-marketing that provides accurate data on
youth substance use.

So, with the hope of presenting an unbiased view of youth substance use
issues in or community, I have pulled some statistics from a 2005
Adolescent Drug Use Survey. This survey, conducted by East Kootenay
Addictions Services Society, shows the following trends among David
Thompson Secondary students:

50.64% of DTSS students use alcohol less than once a month or not at all
and 34.35% use alcohol 1-3 days a month. Only 15.78% of DTSS students use
alcohol once a week or more.

76.91% of DTSS students smoke marijuana less than once a month or not at
all and 9.19% use marijuana 1-3 times a month. Only 14.44% of students
smoke marijuana 1-2 days a week or more.

The majority of students who have tried drugs or alcohol did so at a family
celebration or out of curiousity rather than to fit in or feel better.

83.54% of DTSS students have never used mushrooms.

92.82% of DTSS students have never used cocaine or crack.

95.44% of DTSS students have never used LSD.

97.19% of DTSS students have never used ecstasy.

98.19% of DTSS students have never used crystal meth.

While the results of this study can be, and have been, interpreted in a
number of different ways to support a number of different causes, one
result is clear: the majority of students at DTSS do not abuse substances;
they use them recreationally or not at all.

Having said this, I do not want to minimize the severe impact that drug and
alcohol abuse has. The small minority of students who use substances on a
regular basis report higher rates of the following: binge drinking, using
in a vehicle, conflict with their parents, problems at school, unwanted or
unplanned sexual activity, being charged with a crime, being a passenger in
a vehicle with a driver who has been using alcohol or drugs, and having
driven a vehicle after using alcohol or drugs.

It is clear that for adolescents who use substances regularly a healthy
degree of concern and adequate resources are required. The intent of this
letter is not to minimize the harmful consequences of regular drug and
alcohol use.

Rather, I am suggesting that the assumption that regular substance use is
the norm, blinds us to its severe consequences, and inadvertently, inflates
the amount youth choose to use.

Carmen Thompson

Invermere