Home

2002 Updates

2001 Updates

2000-1999 Updates

Back to NFIA

Arizona Teens’ Drug Use Higher Than Teens Nationwide

A new Arizona survey finds that more adolescents in Arizona use drugs, compared to their national counterparts.

Since 1996, Arizona voters have passed several ballot initiatives that have moved the state towards drug legalization.  (However, voters roundly defeated a bill in November 2002 that would have permitted citizens to possess and grow 2 ounces of marijuana and would have required the state to give marijuana away free to anyone with a doctor's note.)

Laws that appear to condone drug use and perceived availability of drugs are two risk factors for increased drug use by young people, according to David Hawkins and Richard Catalano.  The Arizona survey appears to confirm their findings.

Arizona adolescents’ drug use is significantly higher than that of adolescents throughout the nation. The higher rate can be seen most clearly in past-month drug use of alcohol and marijuana. Interestingly, Arizona adolescents’ past-month cigarette use is below national averages.

The survey was conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission in partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Governor’s Division of Drug and Gang Policy, and the Southwest Prevention Center. Findings from the state survey were compared to the Monitoring the Future Survey, which measures drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students in schools throughout the nation.

The higher rates of drug use among Arizona students occurred among all age groups – 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students -- and involved most drugs, including alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, and ecstasy.

Authors of the survey say that “an explanation for this difference in use could possibly be gathered by comparing Arizona and national rates of perceived harmfulness of substances.” Arizona students perceive less risk in using marijuana, but more risk in smoking cigarettes than their national counterparts.

Arizona students’ lower perception of harm with respect to marijuana is found in all three age groups. More Arizona 8th grade students perceive that cigarettes are harmful than their national counterparts, but 10th graders are about even, and Arizona 12th graders’ perception of harm is lower than students nationwide.

The Arizona survey offers a rich vein of information about drug use, risk factors, and protective factors among adolescents, as well as drug use among the adult criminal justice population. The entire survey may be read at http://acjc.state.az.us/pubs/120302_AZYouthSurvey.pdf.