Ontario Teens: Fewer Are Drinking but Other Substance Use Behaviors Remain Steady

According to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), fewer Ontario teenagers are drinking alcohol than a decade ago. However, binge drinking and use of marijuana haven't declined in recent years.

In 2009, approximately 58 percent of students in grades 7 to 12 reported drinking within the last year – a decrease of 8 percent since 1999. However, levels of pot use and binge drinking have remained steady since 2007. About one-fourth of Ontario teens reported binge drinking within one month of the survey, and one-fourth reported using marijuana within the past year.

Study co-author Robert Mann, a senior researcher on substance abuse at CAMH, commented on the results: "If you look over the past decade, you see a lot of decline of things like drinking, smoking, use of the harder drugs. That seems to stop this year. We're concerned that the declines appear to have slowed down or stopped and it's unclear what's going to happen next."

(Source: www.theglobeandmail.com)

Labels: alcohol, binge drinking, marijuana

posted by Aspen Education Group @ 8:57 AM