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High level alcohol usage by teens in region
Tue, 2001-12-04 00:00
LSD plummets, tobacco shows significant drop and cannabis usage falls. But a high level of alcohol use remains unchanged with Northwestern Ontario Students.
The Northwestern Health Unit is proud to have worked together to create a team effort in fighting substance abuse in our communities. The Drug Awareness Committees in almost every community has been essential to seeing things improve.
Co-operation seems to be working when dealing with enforcement of illegal drugs. Compared to local figures from 1997, LSD use has dropped from 10% to 2% and cannabis use has gone for 26% to 22% of teens. Compared to the
province, Northwestern Ontario reported significantly lower usage rates of drugs such as LSD, PCP, speed, and ecstasy.
“Certainly these are the trends we are looking to develop and sustain in our district with the Tri-Force Drug Unit” states Derek Matchett from the RCMP.
Regarding the significant drop in tobacco use, Phyllis Anderson, Health Promotion Team Leader for the Northwestern Health Unit cautions,” This is indeed an encouraging sign and proof that the message is getting out there.
But we can’t take these results for granted. We must continue to push for reduction of tobacco use and for Smoke Free spaces. There is absolutely no safe exposure level of the chemicals that come from smoking, first hand or second hand”.
According to Sieswerda, the four most common drugs used by Northwestern Ontario students in 2001 were:
1. Alcohol, used by 61.3% (95% CI: 55.2, 67.0)
2. Cigarettes, used by 19.4% (95% CI: 16.7 22.5)
3. Cannabis, used by 21.5% (95% CI: 16.2, 28.1)
4. Medical Barbiturates, used by 15.2% (95% CI: 13.3, 17.3)
This ranking differs from 1997 only on the last item. In 1997, LSD was the fourth most common drug in use; it has now been replaced by barbiturates prescribed by a physician.
Since the 1997 survey, usage of medically prescribed barbiturates such as Seconal and Amytal has doubled in the Northwest to approximately 15%.
Medically prescribed stimulants such as “uppers” and diet pills were up sharply as well. The survey specifically indicates that these increases are not in prescription drugs obtained illegally on the street, but in the use of prescription drugs provided by a physician. Comparisons with provincial data indicate the same trend.
Dr. Pete Sarsfield, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer for the Northwestern Health Unit indicated that, “This increase is not yet understood and require further discussions with our Medical Community”.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit, and the regional office of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health conducted the survey in cooperation with the Northwestern Health Unit, the regional Northwestern Drug Awareness Committees, the Thunder Bay Drug Awareness Committee and the NorWest Community Health Centre in Thunder Bay.
NWOSDUS was commissioned in response to the fact that the Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (OSDUS) does not have a sufficient sample size to report results at the local level. The OSDUS only reports results for the “North” which starts 60 km north of Toronto at Georgian Bay and goes to the Manitoba border. In contrast, the NWOSDUS is conducted specifically in the City of Thunder Bay, and Districts of Thunder Bay and Kenora-Rainy River and includes almost three times more students that the OSDUS “North” group.
The survey also included questions about mental health and the consequences of the drug use. A full report on the NWOSDUS is due to be release in the new year.