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Chapter 3: Student Behaviors and Afterschool Activities

Indicator 13: Alcohol and Other Drug Use

In 2009, there were no measurable differences in the percentages of male and female students in grades 9 through 12 who reported the use of alcohol, either overall or among the various racial/ethnic groups. In contrast, among Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, higher percentages of males than females reported using marijuana.

In 2009, some 19 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 reported having smoked a cigarette, 42 percent reported having drank alcohol, and 21 percent reported having smoked marijuana on one or more of the past 30 days. Six percent of students reported having ever used cocaine, 12 percent reported having ever used inhalants, and 4 percent reported having ever used methamphetamines. Overall, higher percentages of males than females reported having smoked marijuana in the past month, ever used cocaine, and ever used methamphetamines in 2009; in contrast, a higher percentage of females than males reported having ever used inhalants. Inhalant use includes sniffing glue, breathing the contents of aerosol spray cans, or inhaling any paints or sprays to get high.

A lower percentage of Asian students drank alcohol than did their peers in other racial/ethnic groups in 2009 (18 percent vs. 33 to 45 percent). In addition, a lower percentage of Black students (33 percent) drank alcohol than did their peers who were White (45 percent), Hispanic (43 percent), and of two or more races (44 percent). No measurable differences in the percentage of students who drank alcohol were found by sex, either overall or between males and females of the various racial/ ethnic groups. For both males and females, however, higher percentages of White and Hispanic students and students of two or more races drank alcohol than did their Black and Asian peers. The percentages were also higher for Black males and females than for Asian males and females. For instance, 19 percent of Asian males and 31 percent of Black males reported drinking alcohol, compared with 41 percent of males of two or more races, 42 percent of Hispanic males, and 44 percent of White males.

In 2009, the percentage of students who used marijuana was lower for Asian students than for their counterparts of other races/ethnicities (7 percent vs. 21 to 32 percent). The percentage was also lower for White students than for American Indian/Alaska Native students (21 vs. 32 percent). Differences by sex were seen among White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students. For example, 26 percent of Black males reported marijuana use, compared with 19 percent of Black females. For both male and female students, reported marijuana use was less prevalent for Asian students than it was for their White, Black, and Hispanic peers and for their peers of two or more races. Among males, for example, 11 percent of Asians reported smoking marijuana, compared with 20 percent of persons of two or more races, 23 percent of Whites, 25 percent of Hispanics, and 26 percent of Blacks.


Figure 13-1 Percentage of students in grades 9 through 12 who reported use of alcohol on one or more of the past 30 days, by race/ethnicity and sex: 2009

Figure 13-2 Percentage of students in grades 9 through 12 who reported use of marijuana on one or more of the past 30 days, by race/ethnicity and sex: 2009

Table E-13-1 Percentage of students in grades 9 through 12 who reported use of alcohol and other drugs, by type of drug, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2009