18. Students' use of marijuana

This indicator repeats information from the 2002 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report.

In 2001, 24 percent of students in grades 9?12 reported using marijuana anywhere during the last 30 days and 5 percent of students reported using marijuana on school property.

The use of drugs, such as marijuana, at school may lead to a school environment that is harmful to students, teachers, and school administrators. In the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, students in grades 9?12 were asked whether they had used marijuana at all in the past 30 days (referred to as ?anywhere? in this analysis) and whether they had used marijuana on school property. In 2001, about one-quarter (24 percent) of students in grades 9?12 reported using marijuana anywhere during the last 30 days, whereas 5 percent of students reported using marijuana on school property (table 18.1). Overall, no consistent patterns of increase or decrease were found in the percentage of students who had used marijuana between 1993 and 2001, both anywhere and on school property.

Both students? sex and grade level were associated with students? use of marijuana at school. Males were more likely than females to have used marijuana in every survey year, both anywhere and on school property (figure 18.1 and table 18.1). For example, in 2001, 8 percent of males and 3 percent of females reported using marijuana on school property. In that same year, students in lower grades were less likely than students in higher grades to report using marijuana anywhere (figure 18.2 and table 18.1). However, no corresponding difference could be detected in students? use of marijuana on school property according to grade in school ? between 5 and 6 percent of students in grades 9?12 reported such use.

In 2001, Asian students were less likely than students of all other race/ethnicities to report using marijuana anywhere. However, few differences could be found among these groups for students? marijuana use at school. One such difference was that American Indian/Alaska Native students were more likely than students of all other race/ethnicities to report marijuana use at school in 2001. However, there was no difference detected in American Indian/Alaska Native students? use of marijuana at school between 1999 and 2001. While students from various racial/ethnic groups appear to differ in their use of marijuana, these estimates are associated with large standard errors and should be interpreted with caution.

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