4
It is critical that drug
education programming be based on the most accurate data
available. To obtain the most current statistical
information on student drug use, the Technical Report of
Nova Scotia Student Drug Use Survey 2002
5 was
consulted. Following is a summary of findings from that
report. To view the Highlights report, visit
http://www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/addictionprevention.html.
As in the past, and as is the
case in all jurisdictions in the western world, alcohol,
cannabis, and tobacco were the substances adolescent
students most commonly reported using in Nova Scotia in
2002. Among students in grades 7, 9, 10, and 12 in 2002,
about half reported consuming alcohol, more than one-third
reported using cannabis, and almost one-quarter reported
cigarette use in the 12 months before the survey. About 12
percent of students reported using psilocybin or mescaline,
and about 13 percent of students reported using
amphetamines or methylphenidate (Ritalin) without a
prescription.
No other substance was used by more than 6 percent of the
student population in the year before the survey (i.e.,
LSD: 5.5; inhalants: 4.9; non-medical tranquillizers: 4.7;
MDMA (Ecstasy): 4.4; cocaine or crack: 3.9; anabolic
steroids: 2.7; PCP: 3.2; and heroin: 1.6.
Table 1. Any substance use in the year before the survey,
as percentages of all students, 2002.
It is important to bear in mind
that, aside from inhalant use, the prevalence of substance
use climbs steadily through the grades. For instance, 16
percent of students in grade 7 report using alcohol in the
past year, but by grade 9, 52 percent report past-year use.
With cannabis, 10 percent of grade 7 students report
past-year cannabis use, while 38 percent report having used
cannabis in grade 9. Clearly, many grade 7 students could
be more accurately considered “not yet users”
rather than “non-users.”
Table 2. Any use of substance in the year before the
survey, as percentages of all students, 2002.
There were small gender
differences with the use of alcohol and cannabis according
to the 2002 report, and these differences were age-related.
Slightly more males than females used these substances in
grades 7 and 12, while the reverse was the case in grades 9
and 10.
Table 3. Any use of substance in the year before the survey
by gender, as percentages of all students, 2002.
In terms of use that is clearly hazardous:
- Frequent use
of any substance is a sign that it is becoming more
important in a person’s life. Among grade
7–12 Nova Scotia students, 30 percent of students
reported drinking at least monthly in the past year;
while 16 percent reported they had used cannabis more
often than once a month.
- Drinking to
the point of drunkenness is potentially harmful in any
context; 28 percent of students reported drinking to the
point of drunkenness in 2002.
- Any
non-medical substance use (and some pharmaceutical drug
use) in combination with driving poses serious risks. In
2002, 15 percent of Nova Scotia students with a
driver’s licence drove a motor vehicle within an
hour of having used alcohol, while 26 percent did so
after cannabis use.
- Among all
students, 22.8 percent reported being a passenger in a
car driven by an impaired driver.
- Any
non-medical substance use in combination with sexual
activity poses serious risks. Of the 29 percent of
adolescent students who had engaged in sexual
intercourse, 35 percent had unplanned sexual intercourse
while under the influence of a substance at least once
during the course of the year.
- In all cases,
the prevalence of these hazardous behaviours increases
through the grade levels. With the exception of
“being in a car with a drinking driver,”
males are more likely to engage in these behaviours than
females.
Hazardous use of substances increases the likelihood of adverse consequences or harms. As a result of the hazardous substance-use behaviours mentioned above, Nova Scotia students experienced a number of physical, social, legal, and academic harms. The proportions of males and females who reported having one or more drug-related harms were essentially the same. The proportions of students who reported one or more drug-related harms increased from grade 7 to 12, 2002.
Reference:
Poulin, C. (2002). Nova Scotia student drug use 2002: Technical report. Halifax NS: Nova Scotia Department of Health and Dalhousie University. http://www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/addictionprevention.html
4. At the time of original publication of this supplement, the Nova Scotia Student Drug Use Survey 2002 provided the most current data on student substance use in the province. In 2007, a new survey was distributed and analyzed. Alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco remain the three most commonly used drugs by Nova Scotia students. While the 2007 results showed a significant decrease in tobacco use among the students, alcohol and cannabis use remained relatively stable. Alcohol continues to be the most commonly used drug among Nova Scotia students. Throughout the Question of Influence curriculum supplement, the Nova Scotia Student Drug Use Survey statistics have been updated to reflect the 2007 survey results. Where the 2002 data served to inform the development of the curriculum supplement, we retained the reference to the 2002 data. To view the complete 2007 report, please go to http://www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/addictionPrevention.html, or check out the summary in the What’s New section of the website druged.ednet.ns.ca.
5. The 2002 Nova Scotia Student Drug Use Survey was administered in Spring,2002 in 205 randomly selected classes throughout the province and features responses from 4,247 public school students from Grades 7, 9, 10, and 12.