Pubdate: Thu, 14 Dec 2017
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Hamilton Spectator
Contact:  http://www.thespec.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181
Author: Sheryl Ubelacker
Page: A11
Cited: http://mapinc.org/url/TGViMyDE

SUBSTANCE USE AMONG ONTARIO STUDENTS DOWN

TORONTO - Ontario adolescents are drinking, smoking and using cannabis
and other recreational drugs at the lowest rates since the late 1970s,
suggests a biennial survey of Grade 7 to 12 students by the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health.

But the 2017 survey released Thursday turned up a disturbing finding:
almost one per cent of respondents in Grades 9 to 12 reported having
taken illicit fentanyl in the previous year, raising a red flag given
the opioid's involvement in hundreds of overdose deaths across the
country.

Robert Mann, a senior scientist at CAMH and coauthor of the Ontario
Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), said declines over time
in the proportion of adolescents using tobacco, alcohol and cannabis
are a positive sign that public health messaging about the harms of
such substances are getting through to young people.

In the last 20 years, the proportion of students who reported
ingesting alcohol dropped to almost 43 per cent from 66 per cent,
while smoking rates fell to seven per cent from 28 per cent, and
cannabis use dropped to 19 per cent from 28 per cent.

Non-medical use of prescription opioids, monitored since 2007,
declined to almost 11 per cent from about 21 per cent among those surveyed.

"One of the things we also see is that the onset of (substance) use is
being delayed until later years. Now the onset tends to occur in later
grades," said Mann, noting that about 37 per cent of 12th graders
reported using marijuana.

"And that's a very positive thing because we know that the later that
young people start using alcohol and other drugs, the less likely they
are to develop problems with that use, either currently or in the future."

Such long-term drops in usage point to successful efforts by parents,
educators, public health officials - and students themselves - to
address substance use and the problems it can create, agreed coauthor
Hayley Hamilton, a CAMH scientist.

"Nevertheless, we must remember that substance use among students can
quickly begin to increase, as we have seen in the past, so a long-term
and continued commitment to public health goals is necessary."

For example, the legalization of recreational marijuana in July could
alter current patterns related to the psychoactive drug.

"There certainly have been concerns expressed that legalizing cannabis
might send a message to young people that it's OK to be using it or
it's OK for more people to be using it," Mann said.

However, when students were asked whether they agreed that adults
should be legally able to purchase pot, responses were mixed, with
about one-third giving a thumb's up, a third against the idea and the
other third indicating they weren't sure.

Four per cent of current users said they intend to smoke up or vape
weed more once it's decriminalized, but almost two-thirds of students
overall said they don't intend to take up the drug once they reach
legal age.

"So I think we're looking at a group of pretty level-headed people
here, with exceptions," said Mann. "But it doesn't appear that
legislation is going to release a pent-up demand for cannabis in this
population."

This year's OSDUHS involved 11,435 participants, a representative
sample of the province's 917,000 Grade 7 to 12 students.

For the first time in the survey's 40-year history, researchers asked
respondents about fentanyl use.

Among those in Grades 9 to 12, almost one per cent said they had
ingested the illicit opioid in the previous 12 months - a figure
equivalent to about 5,800 students across the province.

"That's a small proportion, but this is a very hazardous drug and
these people are taking quite an extreme risk in using this drug,"
said Mann.
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MAP posted-by: Matt