Teen Substance Abuse in Chesco: It's Complicated, Study Says

The recently released results of the 2011 Pennsylvania Youth Survey Report paint a complicated picture of the drug use habits of Chester County middle school and high school students.

The report, which is conducted every two years by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, showed that while rates of drunk driving and painkiller use have decreased among Chester County students, rates of binge drinking and driving under the influence of marijuana remain high relative to state averages.

(On April 3, Communities that Care is hosting a town hall to discuss the survey responses Phoenixville Area School District students provided. Click here to get information on the event.)

Below are some additional results from the 2011 Chester County survey, which 12 school districts and 14,600 students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 participated in. 

• Overall, 77 percent of those surveyed reported abstaining from alcohol use in the previous 30 days, 89 percent reported abstaining from marijuana use, and 94 percent reported not using illicit drugs besides marijuana in the previous month. These numbers were 78 percent, 90 percent, and 94 percent in 2009.
• Chester County 12th graders reported first trying alcohol at age 14.4 and drinking it regularly by age 15.6. Those surveyed reported first smoking marijuana at age 14.8 and first trying cigarettes at age 14.3. These figures, save a small decrease in the average age cigarette smoking began, are identical to the 2009 results.
• 2.8 percent of 6th grade students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, while 11.3 percent of 8th graders, 31 percent of 10th graders, and 49.9 percent of 12th graders reported the same. Overall, 23.2 percent surveyed students reported imbibing in the previous 30 days, up from 22.1 in 2009.
• 15.4 percent of 12th graders reported driving after drinking, down from 23.8 percent in 2003. This was the first year since the survey was taken that Chester County 12th graders reported drinking and driving less frequently than the statewide average.
• 22 percent of 12th graders reported driving after marijuana use, down from 25.2 percent in 2003, but still higher than the statewide average of 18.4 percent.
• 11.9 percent of students surveyed reported binge drinking, below the state average of 12.4 percent. However 30.6 percent of Chesco 12th grade students surveyed reported binge drinking, above the state average of 26.9 percent and the national average of 21.6 percent.
• While 7.9 percent of 12th grade students reported that they took prescription painkillers for non-medical reasons in the previous 30 days in 2009, in 2011 that figure dropped to 5.6 percent.

The full results of the survey, including information on its methodology and history, are available here.