The Prevalence of Student Alcohol & Drug Use in Canada

Young, M.M., Saewyc, E., Boak, A., Jahrig, J., Anderson, B., Doiron, Y., Taylor, S., Pica, L., Laprise, P., and Clark, H.

METHOD REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

The study is based on provincial student drug use surveys completed in 2007 and 2008. Alcohol and cannabis use increases between grades 7 and 12.
The analysis dealt with a subset of the data covering grades for which data collection Percentage of students who used alcohol during the past year, by grade. Percentage of students reporting past-year cannabis use, by grade.
was complete (grades 7, 9, 10 and 12). Provincial range collapsed across grade and gender: 46-62%. Provincial range collapsed across grade and gender: 17-32%.

Differences in survey design and methodology limits inter-provincial comparability. 80 7

60
50 7

Percentage
60 40

Percentage
9
The Alberta Youth Experience Survey (TAYES) 2008 – Technical report AHS | ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH

9
40 30
10
20 20
10
MOS T

SANTÉ

0 12 10
BC AB MB ON QC NB PEI NS NL YSS 0 12
AB MB ON QC NB PEI NS NL YSS
MOS T Province
1 Province

RECOMMENDATIONS A portion of students in this group engage in problematic patterns of use:

Excessive consumption of alcohol (5+ drinks on a single occasion in the past month); or
National and provincial data should be collected and analyzed on an ongoing basis. Daily or almost daily use of cannabis.
Common “core indicators” should be integrated into student drug use surveys. Percentage of students reporting consuming 5+ drinks on one Percentage of students reporting daily or almost daily cannabis
The results suggest that prevention should be aimed at 60
occasion in the past month, by grade. use, by grade Among Grade 12 students: 3% to 10%

Deterring or delaying onset of use in the early years of high school; and 50
Reducing the frequency of use or the occurrence of specific activities (such as driving) 40
following use in senior high school students. 14

Percentage
12
30 7 7
10

Percentage
It is important to recognize the following facts: 20 9
8 9
6
The vast majority of 13 year olds (72–92%) do not drink. 10 10 4 10
2
The majority of students in grades 7, 9 and 10 report never having used cannabis. 0 12 0 12
BC AB MB ON NB PEI NS NL BC MB ON QC NB PEI NS NL

The study recommends that its results be shared widely with appropriate age groups. Province Province

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A portion engage in risky behaviour associated with use:

Current members of the Student Drug Use Surveys (SDUS) Working Group: Drinking or cannabis use and driving:
Brent Anderson Angela Boak Heather Clark Up to 1 in 5 (11-20%) of grade 12 students report driving within an hour of consuming alcohol.
Addictions Management Unit, Manitoba Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Ontario Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors
Jesse Jahrig Patrick Laprise
A similar proportion (11-21%) of grade 12 students report driving within an hour of using cannabis.
Yvette Doiron Alberta Health Services Institut de la statistique du Québec
Addictions, Mental Health and Primary
Health Care Division, New Brunswick Elizabeth Saewyc, Ph.D. Stacy Taylor Being a passenger with someone who had been drinking or using cannabis:
University of British Columbia School of Nursing New Brunswick Department of Health
Lucille Pica McCreary Centre Society, British Columbia Up to 2 in 5 (17-38%) were a passenger with someone who had been drinking.
Institut de la statistique du Québec
Up to 1 in 4 (17-26%) were a passenger with someone who had used cannabis.
© Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse 2012

www.ccsa.ca
Matthew Dann, Jillian Flight and Mark Latendresse of the Office of Research and

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Surveillance, Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate, Healthy Environments and
Reference: Young, M.M., Saewyc, E., Boak, A., Jahrig, J., Anderson, B., Doiron, Y., ... Clark, H. (Student Drug Use Surveys Working Group). (2011). The SDUS Working Group Consumer Safety Branch , Health Canada for contributing the Youth Smoking Survey data
Cross-Canada Report on Student Alcohol and Drug Use: Technical Report. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. would like to thank: and attending working group meetings in an observer/advisory capacity.