Who Uses Alcohol?
Student use of Alcohol and other drugs?
In 2011 a Canada wide study was published that looked at student alcohol and drug use (Cdn. Centre on Substance Abuse). They reported on youth in grades 7,9,10 and 12 and these are some of the things they found out:
- Alcohol use is almost twice as prevalent as Cannabis use.
- 19-30% report comsuming 5 or more drinks on a single occassion in the past month
- 12-20% of Grade 12 students report driving within an hour of drinking alcohol in the past year
- 26-38% of all students report that in the past year they have been a passenger iwth someone that had been drinking, and 17-20% report that in the past year they have been a passenger with someone who had had "too much" to drink.
- 2-5% report using Cannabis daily
- 14-21% of students in Grade 12 report driving within an hour of using Cannabis, and more than 33% of Grade 12 students report having been a passenger with someone who had used cannabis
- Among the drugs assessed by the surveys, aside from alcohol and cannabis, ecstacy is the most prevalent drug (4-7% lifetime use) followed by inhalants (2-4% report lifetime use).
Other notable findings:
- More males appear to engage in daily/almost daily cannibus use and males appear to more often report driving after drinking.
- Among Grade 7 students, prevalence of alcohol and drug use is relatively low; however, use increases dramatically by Grade 12.
- The vast majority of 13 year olds (72-92%) don't drink and the majority of students in grades 7,9,10 report never having used cannibus.
In Nova Scotia, approximately one-third of Grade 7-12 students report experiencing alcohol-related harm. Five percent of Grade 7 students report being drunk in the last 30 days, a number that rises to nearly 50% by the time the students reach grade 12.
In Nova Scotia, one in seven early morning emergency department visits are alcohol-related.
In 2009, one in four highway deaths in Nova Scotia involved alcohol and each year the deaths of more than 220 Nova Scotians are alcohol related.
