In addition to the standard telephone-based survey administered to a nationally representative sample of 1,000 12- to 17-year-olds, CASA's 2010 back-to-school report also relied, for the first time, on an Internet-based survey administered to a nationally representative sample of 1,055 12- to 17-year-olds and 456 parents of these adolescents, the authors noted.
Dr. Robert L. DuPont, who serves as president of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Rockville, Md., and was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in an interview that wider use of random student drug testing might be a good way to reduce drug use and to identify drug-using students in an effort to help them become and stay drug-free.
The only 100% safe and effective treatment is prevention, said Dr. Gold, who also serves as chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Florida. “More of our experts' time and energy need to be focused on these trends and data … and on prevention.”
Adolescents reporting drugs and gangs at their schools were five times more likely to have used marijuana.
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My Take
Strong Social Fabric Offers Protection
The ray of hope in the [CASA] survey results is the association between the strength of the family bond and substance use. Students who feel valued, supported, and connected at home are less likely than are those who do not to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs, even in schools in which gang and drug activity is reported. This finding confirms the importance of children having adults in their lives to help them gain self-control over their urges. The more that educators, administrators, and public health–minded pediatric clinicians begin to understand that it is the social fabric surrounding youth that helps them avoid risky behaviors, the more likely they will be to support efforts that rebuild villages and foster connectedness between families and their offspring.
CARL C. BELL, M.D., is president and chief executive officer of Community Mental Health Council Inc. in Chicago, acting director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, and professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
