ONE-QUARTER OF ONTARIO YOUTH BINGE DRINK, STUDY SHOWS

Students between grades seven and 12 are binge drinking, 10 per cent may be
dependent on cannabis and cocaine use is on the rise.

According to the 2003 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey released by the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, alcohol is the most popular drug
among youth, with cannabis ranking second and tobacco coming in third.

More than 6, 600 junior-high and secondary-school students in 126
randomly-selected schools in Ontario completed anonymous surveys. Ontario
was divided into four regions: Toronto (schools within the former Metro
Toronto), Northern Ontario (schools within North Bay and Sudbury and
farther north), Eastern Ontario (schools within York region and further
east) and Western Ontario (schools west of, and including, the Peel region).

Roughly two-thirds of students surveyed used alcohol during the year before
the survey was administered.

Slightly more than one-quarter of all students reported binge drinking,
defined as imbibing five or more drinks in a single incident. One in 10
students reported binge drinking two to three times in the month before the
survey and six per cent said that binged four or more times in the previous
month.

Binge drinking was highest among 12th-graders (45 per cent) and lowest (six
per cent) among seventh-graders. It is more popular among boys (29 per
cent) than girls (24 per cent) and is almost twice as common among Northern
students than Torontonians.

The survey also tabulated what they referred to as "hazardous drinking,"
meaning an established pattern of drinking that increases the likelihood of
physical and medical problems. It is different from binge-drinking, which
is classified as "heavy" drinking.

Males are significantly more likely to report hazardous drinking (21 per
cent) than girls (17 per cent). However, females were more likely than
males (10 per cent vs. six per cent) to report hazardous use combined with
elevated psychological distress.

The survey found that 30 per cent of students smoke cannabis, with no
significant difference in rates between males and females or between
regions. Only 6 per cent of seventh graders smoke cannabis, compared to 45
per cent of eleventh and twelfth graders.

Researchers said that 10 per cent of students may have a cannabis
dependency problem, defined as "uncontrolled use and sustained daily use or
attempts to reduce use."

Compared to 2001, the use of illicit drugs, excluding cannabis, dropped
from 18 per cent to 15 per cent among students. However, there is an
increasing pattern developing in cocaine use. Compared to 1999, cocaine use
has increased from three to five per cent.

When cannabis is included, one third of students (32 per cent) reported
using illicit drugs.

19 per cent of students smoked cigarettes within the past year while the
use of hallucinogens, aside from LSD (i.e. mescaline and psilocybin "magic
mushrooms"), was reported by 10 per cent of the students.