A locker at Desert Christian High School.The results of this year's Arizona Youth Survey show that alcohol is the most widely used substance among young adults, but there has been a slight decrease in its prevalence.
Two years ago, 24.1 percent of respondents said they had drunk alcohol in the month prior to taking the survey, versus 22.4 percent this time.
And it’s not just alcohol. There’s been a decrease in many areas from two years ago, said Andrew LeFevre, executive director of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. But, he said, there is a trend that remains the same.
"One of the things that we have seen across most of the iterations of the survey is increasing use as students get older across all of the different categories, so for alcohol, for marijuana, for prescription drugs," he said. "All of those things typically increase as students go from eigth grade to 10th grade to 12th grade."
This year, more than 57,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students from across the state took the survey.
It measures the prevalence of substance abuse for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and asks about exposure to other risky behaviors, like bullying, violence and gambling.
LeFevre said the survey results help the state get a glimpse of what’s going on in students’ lives and shape programs and policies to address risks.
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