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Latest Survey Shows Florida Youth Drug Use Down
There's good news for Florida's teens and their parents in the results of the 2008 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. The annual survey of middle and high school students shows there has been a steady decline in alcohol and other drug use by Florida's youth since 2000. In fact, the latest survey indicates that fewer of Florida's teens are smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.

Among the findings:

Cigarette smoking has been cut in half since 2000. Only 9% of middle and high school students reported smoking during the past 30 days.

Alcohol use has decreased by 13%. Binge drinking has also declined.

Use of any illegal drug other than marijuana is at a historic low of 6.6% of students.

There has been a significant drop in the number of students who first used any drug before the age of 14.

The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey was first administered to Florida's middle and high school students during the 1999-2000 school years, and is repeated annually in the spring. The 2008 edition sampled more than 91,000 students in sixth through 12th grades. For more details, see the complete survey.

Florida Alliance for Drug Endangered Children

DrugFreeFlorida.org is a project of the Florida Office of Drug Control and
the Florida Department of Children & Families